The Dark Flame
by Dark-Fire27
Summary: What started off as what was a normal murder scene, turns into something else for one individual. In order to find the one who caused the crime, the servant of Death must partake in the world's largest combat tournament. His fighting search begins...
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters mentioned from Nintendo, M.G.S, Sega, Namco, Shonnen Jump, and any other animes/manga and Square Soft in the story except for my own.

_**The Dark Flame**_

_A Super Smash Bros. Brawl Fan Fiction_

**Prologue:** An Invitation

A dark atmosphere, yet a peaceful environment; some would say this is an unlikely combination. But, truth be told, this place once belonged to the angel that had brought death many times to the people of this world. Wait, let me rephrase that… I did not mean, "_once belonged to…_", I should've actually said, "_belongs to…_" No matter, he's doing what he normally does to the mortals that wander this world that have reached the ends of their paths. You're probably going to ask, "_Why don't you care…?_" or something along those lines, and let me answer you before that. To put it in simple terms, I'm merely here because I made a deal with him, or rather, he made a deal with me. A few weeks after my birth, I was found in the ashes of what was left of the home of my mortal family.

Don't ask why I'm referring to them as mortals, because I myself am one myself, but to put it simply, I lost my humanity that day. Death saw me, and instead of taking my life, he made the decision to train me, and when I was old enough, he asked me to search for a woman who had taken some of his powers away from him. His reward in me doing so was to allow me to keep my teen-like appearance for as long he's the angel of death. Many wish to become immortal, and even though this reward was not permanent for me, I accepted it. In order for me to surpass or have strength at least equivalent to the woman's powers, he gave me the power to harness the elements of fire and darkness, and use them in whatever ways I see fit. He also granted me the use of his scythe, Soul Eater, a scythe that will feed off the souls of those I kill, becoming stronger in doing so. He assumes that the woman would desire to have all of his powers, but since he's busy with other matters, he cannot handle fighting her, despite his powers.

Humans do not know the truth of the realm I reside in, and do not know the truth about the existence of Death. But despite my mission, I was never able to come across such a woman with powers of the elements she had taken, which were the elements of water and light. But one thing I learned from Death, is that she absolutely loves making people suffer as much as she can. A true sadist, as she's often referred to, but why she hadn't revealed herself these countless years yet still complexes my mind. But, fighting most definitely her thing; besides that, this mystery woman is as she is referred to; a complex mystery.

I figured my meditation for the day has reached an end, and as such, I soon found myself standing, gazing around the room. Plain as it may be, almost pure darkness with what appears to be no way in, and no way out. It was then I felt some sort of presence, the same kind that Death radiates when he finds something on his walk of the Earth. I raised my left arm, the gloved hand of mine with an amethyst ring on the index finger opened up, and my mind focused. My black hair with natural red streaks in it began to flow as if a wind was blowing around my body. The black shirt I wore, as well as the red vest over it, the dark grey jeans on my legs, and the black bandaged-ribbons on my right arm began to let out fluttering sounds as the winds began to pick up also. The color of the gloves I wore was black, and exposed two-thirds of my fingers, though in this case, it did not matter too much; the dark colors showed my allegiance.

"**The darkness that is the void,  
>Awaken and open the gate of Earth.<strong>

**Allow me to pass through the doorway,  
>In which the human world separates here.<br>Answer my call, the power of darkness!"**

This spell could only be cast by those who have a connection with the darkness; Death and I, to put it more bluntly. The amethyst ring that was on my hand began to release a dark fog of sorts, which soon formed in my hand in the shape of a sphere of sorts. When I had enough focus, I closed my hand, pulled it back, and with that, I pushed it forwards, the sphere expanding when it released my grasp, and began to become more flat. I watches as it took shape in an oval of sorts, and became large enough for me to walk through, and would close when I pass through it. The portal always takes me to wherever Death is, so all I had to do was walk in. I walked forwards, the combat boots that I wore, which were black with red lining, made hearable sounds with each step I took. I closed my eyes as I passed through the gate, and when I opened them, I saw myself in what appeared to be an alleyway.

Before me stood a young man in a black robe, the hood covering his face, preventing me to see his expression. As expected with Death, though there was one mishap that allowed me to see his face once, and it was actually quite young, despite his size. He stood five foot six inches, some fair two or so inches shorter than I was, but the scythe he held in his right hand looked very menacing, that made up for his size. That is, if anyone would be able to see him, but nobody could; not unless they reached the brink of death. In front of him, lying on the ground, appeared to be two street fighters; martial artists by the looks of it, one male and the other female, yet one held nunchucks in their possession. Their bodies were lifeless, I can tell that right away, and felt no traces of their souls, despite the training that Death put me through.

"A little late as always, Dark… But, even I too was late myself… Her trace is no longer here, and it never was when I showed up…" I listened to him speak, sounding like an old man, but his voice was quite youthful. He only said part of the name he gave me, "Dark Fire", biased on the two elements he allowed me to use.

"So she's long gone…" I spoke silently to myself, and cursed mentally. However, somethin in the male street fighter's jacket caught my eye, an envelope of sorts, which I reached and pulled out. Like his clothes, it was covered in blood, but it wasn't quite as heavily covered as his garb. I took a look at the seal, which appeared to be a circle with a cross meeting at the bottom right corner as the envelope seal, which I broke in order to open it, and looked at the message within. The words were easy enough to decipher, despite being in what may have been in a foreign language, which went…

"To a Sir Demitri Flint,

We would like to say that you have been accepted by our fine experts to join in on the fight at our establishment. In the next few days, we are going to prepare a ride for each of the normal fighters like you, and returned letters to those we have found worthy of joining the fight. We would also like to include that if you have any questions, look us up online at the Brawl Central website you heard about. We cannot wait to see you compete against some of the most renown brawlers of all time. Just remember that killing others is not welcome here.

Sincerely from:

The staff of Brawl Central."

I looked over the letter once more, blinking a few times, and it occurred to me that it was an invitation of sorts. I saw nothing in the envelope or the letter that said they knew of this chap's appearance or fighting style. I looked around, and saw a similar envelope, but the seal was broken, and the letter was not there.

"Perhaps she is closer than we anticipated, Death… This may be a theory, but she may be intending to attend this tournament of sorts… She wants to ensure that there are people for her to fight, and leave in the state of these unfortunate souls here… I'll be willing to go as this, "Demitri Flint" character that lies before us, and seek her out; I'll keep you well informed over the duration of my absence." I explained to the young man, and he appeared to be in thought. I could sense he knew what I was planning, and he gave a nod, before handing his scythe, Soul Eater, over.

"You will need this, but just remember, only this woman is your target; you are not to kill any contenders that participate in this tournament except her, or the consequences will be severe on your end, understand?" Death warned me, and I gave a nod, grasping the scythe that was Soul Eater, and set it on my back in the self-designed case for it. "Then I shall leave this to you…" I heard him say, and without chanting anything like usual, he snapped his fingers, and a portal appeared.

"This should save you time from having to wait for that ride… And here…" I listened to him say, and he created what appeared to be an ID card of sorts. It had "Demitri Flint" as the name, the general age, and anything else that was necessary. But instead of the man's facial picture, it was replaced with my face; sure it may have been identity theft, but it was for the good of humanity. "Now remember, Demitri is your name as long as this goes on, and you will be seen by others, but only you will be able to see her." I heard him say, and I sighed.

"Yes, I know that… I promise I'll return with her, and you'll take your powers back away from her. Until then, I will keep you informed of the situation…" I told him, watching as he opened another portal back to where another death was occurring. I took a deep breath, and gazed at the portal he opened before me, and saw it was a very crowded place by the looks of it. Despite it, I knew I had to find her, even if it would take a long time to do so; the put a minor dark charm on the scythe so it appeared to be a normal scythe, but the fact is, it was not as it appeared.

I took a step forward, and found myself walking through the portal, yet when I was on the other side, I heard it close behind me. I was here for good now, at least, until my mission is completed. It is my job to defeat her, and Death will expose her to justice; defeat for me just was not an option in my eyes; to her, or anyone else here. No way in hell…

* * *

><p>AN: I know I haven't been on frequently, but I promise to be back in the swing of things soon enough. I'm trying to make new chapters for the other fan fictions I'm writing also, since I made the promise to myself to do so. I just hope not to disappoint you any further.<p> 


	2. Opening Ceremony

Disclaimer: Still don't own any characters mentioned from Nintendo, M.G.S, Sega, Namco, Shonnen Jump, Nippon Ichi, ATLUS, Square Enix/Soft, AKSYS Games, Sony, and any other animes/manga in the story except for my own. Also, in case you did not know, the plot is completely original, the mentioned characters so far are original, (Dark, Death, unknown woman, and the two street fighters) and expect more, but as far as I know, I'm going to introduce characters throughout; some you may recognize, others, not as likely; those characters for certain are made by the companies mentioned above.

_**The Dark Flame**_

_A Super Smash Bros. Brawl Fan Fiction_

**Chapter 1: **Opening Ceremony

The environment was too noisy and the place was too crowded; two things that will for certain hinder my abilities a little, but not enough to do anything too significant. But I know for certain I was not the only powerful one here; I sensed many powerful signatures. Trying to pick out _**hers**_ is going to be especially difficult, since it was like finding a needle in a damn haystack. I growled softly to myself, rolling my eyes a little as I continued to walk forwards. Many people were talking about me, some girls whispering about me, heck, I could swear there was a handful just had their jaws dropped to see me. I couldn't blame them; some always do somewhere whenever Death makes me visible to their eyes.

Expected results, but thankfully nobody came over and talked to me; I wasn't really that much of a talker unless it was absolutely necessary. My voice wasn't too deep like a middle-aged man, but not as light as a child's either, so basically, I appeared to be a typical teenaged warrior, and sounded like one also. The many faces I saw around me were all unique, some of which I wouldn't expect to be here, or to be present in this day and age. A handful appeared to be from the 19th century, some further back than that, and the voices I heard varied also, from languages to accents. But there were people that, quite honestly, I would not really expect to be here in this period due to the further advanced-outfits, clothing and appearances.

I could see a handful of these people radiated some kind of dark aura around them, but the type of darkness differed on the person involved. So many things made me wonder; just how is it that these invitations got out to everyone else, but not to anyone like myself or that mystery woman? So many things wandered my mind as I walked around, seeing the various people involved; many looking as though they were bored, some were exceptionally excited, but sure enough, many of them were impatient. I could see in the crowd that various characters looking like some kind of security force walking to each individual, asking for ID and letter of certification, as proof they were invited. However, through the crowd, I could barely see the view of a woman with cyan hair with blonde streaks.

Very unusual characteristics, then again, everyone else appeared to be different to the next person. Perhaps my mind was playing tricks on me, or somebody was using some kind of illusion spell of sorts against me to see what I saw. Who knows is all I can say…

"E-excuse me, the young man with the scythe… Can you step out of the group to be examined further?" I heard a light, feminine voice speak to me, and I turned my head to face a female that appeared to be in security wear. She had long, blonde hair with a blue beret on her head, and wore a blue cloak over her body. She had a gentle look on her expression, yet something about her didn't feel right, oddly enough. But since she appeared to be part of this locations security platoon, I did not argue with her and stepped out.

She did not appear to be a participant; actually, in fact, she didn't exactly look like she could enforce the law all too well. I suppose that following her out of the group was for the better; didn't want her first day to be quite rough.

"Letter of invitation and ID for certification… ummm, p-please?" I heard her speak, and I thought she was actually considerably shy now that I heard her. I shrugged, and reached into my vest pocket and pulled out both the letter and the ID card which Death provided me, and held them out to her. She took them in hand, and looked them over, ensuring I was who I was included on the card. I saw her pull out what appeared to be a scanner from the inside of her cloak, and scanned the ID, and made a light beeping sound.

I saw her look at the back of the scanner, tilted her head a little, and handed back the ID card back to be, then said, "Your ID has been approved, Mr. Flint. We welcome you to Brawl Central, and would like you to head to the stadium immediately for the opening ceremony. It'll be there that you'll learn of which people will be fighting at which time and place. Hope you make use of our facilities, but before you do, since you're a contender, here…" I watched as she set the scanner back into her cloak, and pulled out what appeared to be some sort of bracelet, with what may have been some type of electronic device on it.

"It's regulation that you wear this during the time of this event; it limits your combat abilities so they will not "kill" anyone, but at the same time, will not hinder how fast your attacks come. All it does is sap all lethality your attacks would otherwise deal in normal situations without having to dull any weapons. It's revolutionary this time around, so hope you make excellent use of it." I heard her explain, almost as if it was normal for her to say all that without the slightest hint that she was shy. I saw her bow a little in respect. She handed the bracelet over to me, in which I put on without question; now at least it saves me from holding back. I didn't feel anything change inside me, but It felt like the bracelet was a part of me; perhaps locked on my wrist for my stay here.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have others to attend to as well. I do not expect this will be the last time we'll see each other…" I heard her say, before she returned to what she was doing. I saw her pull out a younger woman with platinum blonde hair, as well as some guy with pure white, spiky hair with a headband out of the group, who oddly had a scythe blade in place of an arm. I could hear from them that they were causing ruckus, and that the woman was insulted and was about to get into a quarrel, with whom, I don't know, but at least the security woman broke them up.

I turned my back to them, and gazed around everywhere that I had a feeling I had to go to. There appeared to be numerous hotels and residential complexes around, much like when the Olympic games take place at where I had connections with. But here, exactly, had an Earthen feel, but at the same time, felt completely strange at the same time.

I walked around for a while, trying to find some sort of sign that would hopefully take me to the stadium that the young woman told me to go to. I mean, here, I did not see a stadium of any sorts, but when I looked up, I saw something hovering up in the sky, some sort of very, **very**, large building, that's all. I could assume that was the stadium, and I just wondered how people got up there. But soon enough, I watched as some kind of hover bus pull up at a nearby stop, with several faces that I did not recognize, and the way they were dressed looked as though they came from different ages. One was a red-head with an "x" scar on his cheek, and he wore what appeared to be traditional Japanese style hanyo, with what appeared to be a katana-like weapon sheathed at his side. His expression appeared to be a bit of confusion, but all the same, he had a bright aura around him that made it seem like he's happy to be here. Another appeared to be in a black robe that goes down to their ankles, chains hanging around the top of it, the hood down to expose the blond cowlick he had for a hairstyle. It would appear that he had a bit of an emo-style air around him, from what I could tell, but despite that, anyone else didn't appear to have much interest to me in that group.

I walked towards the bus and stepped on, and thankfully, there was plenty of room left for me to take a seat, which I casually sat near the back. I had to remove the scythe from my makeshift sheath and held it to the side. I slowly began to think about my plan of attack of learning of this woman's location. However, I was pulled out of my train of thought as I saw what appeared to be a young blonde woman running along the side of the bus, dragging along a red-head in quite revealing clothing.

"W-w-wait! W-we must make our way to the stadium! Sir Laharl is there waiting for us! Th-this bus is heading to the stadium, right!" I heard the surprising high female's voice from the front of the bus, and I saw it was the young blonde. Upon closer inspection, she had a red ribbon in her hair that took on the shape that could be mistaken as rabbit ears. She wore a white blouse what appeared to be a red swimsuit-like outfit underneath, on her back were red wings and a similar red demon tail with a spaded tip. In her one hand was what appeared to be a very annoyed red-head woman of similar age. This woman who was being held wore a black top that had a demonic-like face which covered only her flat chest, covering each place a breast was supposed to be, and a very short black skirt. She too had demon wings like the one who was holding her and a spade-tipped tail also. It was evident on her face that she did not want to be here, and considering the few guys' faces that were looking at the pair, it was definitely odd.

The bus driver explained that was the case, and the blonde appeared to be relieved, though it was the woman she held that spoke. "Ugh… Flonne, are you sure we can't wait for the next bus to take us there…? I mean, Prince is probably showing off his skills and attempting to get in the spotlight up there… After all, he got all excited when that flat-chested blonde woman with the beret gave him that bracelet after telling him it amplified his powers tenfold. Though I tried to kill a guy for insulting me; despite my best efforts, all I could do was turn him into a trophy… Well, I suppose it's best for him to learn that we should not believe everything, despite how sincere sounding it is. Besides, I can't seem to remove it now that it's on my wrist." She explained, and that caused me to raise an eyebrow. Instead of being "defeated", an individual is transformed into a trophy? This gave me a lot of questions, but despite it, I suppose it was better than being killed. But, how should I know that the woman I was searching for even has this bracelet on her wrist?

"That's what you said last time, and the time before that, Etna! And I say no; we're taking this bus…" I listened to the woman known as Flonne explain, before she sighed. "It probably been a lot easier to have you became a trophy like that unfortunate man… You didn't have to be mean to that blond man who called himself a "Getbacker", I mean… How was he supposed to know you became upset for being called, "flat chested", even though you're not?" I heard her add, and she made a quick recover after the reference, and the woman known as Etna appeared to have sighed. Soon enough, Flonne dragged Etna to the back, and I resumed looking out the window as the two sat there, Flonne in the middle and Etna at the other side.

I didn't hear anything for the longest time even after the bus began to move, though I could make out minor conversations on the bus. However, a majority of them didn't really seem to concern me too much; none of them had to do with my mission. I sighed as the bus was making a progressive move towards the hovering stadium in the sky. However, the demon sitting beside me began to talk to that other demon she dragged in, speaking loud enough for me to hear.

"So you see, Etna, there are more people here to fight and show us our fighting techniques, and they show us theirs. I mean, that man you turned into a trophy used martial arts in combination to electricity assaults; his opponents must get "shocked" to see that fighting style. Haha…" I heard her speak, using a pun partway, however, Etna did not appear to be in the slightest amused. "But, don't you think that man standing next to him was a little odd… Like, there appeared to be some kind of demonic glint in his eyes or something, before you…" Flonne added, but Etna appeared to be frustrated and annoyed by now.

"You seriously have to bring that up, Flonne? The last thing I want people to know is what happened there, though I'd turn them into a trophy if they know too much. Why I haven't turned you into one yet is because… Well, actually, why haven't I in the first place!" Etna spoke, and I saw that she was definitely upset from the corner of my eyes. Ugh, did I seriously have to put up with this the entire way up to the stadium? Last thing I wanted to hear now is two arguing demons, and I continued to gaze out the window.

"And Flonne, must we have to discuss unnecessary things when we might be disrupting someone, not that I care…" I heard Etna speak, and I could only assume that Flonne may have realized this, but I wasn't really looking.

"I see your point, Miss Etna… Perhaps he's meditating…? I mean, all the people here had different customs, so perhaps he could be in meditation to prepare himself…? Maybe I should try when we get to our room; I mean it could be assumable that you and I will be sharing a room…" I heard Flonne whisper to her demon acquaintance, and I got to think that she just doesn't skip a beat with whatever is said. Huh. I didn't hear much else after that, so it must've been settled to be quiet between them, which actually worked with me in my mind.

* * *

><p>Eventually, the buss had arrived at its stop at a loading and unloading bus terminal, and the passengers immediately began to wander off; many going their own separate ways and all. However, one thing in particular outside my window caught my eye; it appeared to be a figure; a large broad sword in hand with a long, semi-torn red scarf around his neck, in shorts, red shoes, and had blue, short hair with two antennae coming from his head. Only, nothing was moving, and he appeared to be standing on some sort of stand. Suddenly, I was pressed up against the window as Flonne pressed on my back; clearly she saw the figure also.<p>

"UWAAAHHH! Sir Laharl!" I heard her yell out, and she immediately dashed out of the bus, dragging Etna along like she had when they first stepped on the bus. So… that statue/trophy standing out there was the so-called "Sir Laharl" that Flonne referred to? I found myself getting off the bus myself before the driver began to nag at me to get off, and on the platform, I watched as the bus made it's descent to the ground once again. Next thing I knew, I saw that Etna had the trophy of Laharl hoisted on her shoulder, and appeared to be ready to toss it off. She brushed me aside, but next thing I knew, my hand made contact with the base so suddenly, and the touch caused a glow.

When the glow disappeared, I heard a groan from the now living figure on Etna's shoulder, and it would appear that he's quite upset. Etna appeared to have realized it, and immediately set him down, yet it was too late; his eyes were glowing yellow and his expression showed pure rage.

"And just what were you doing, Etna! You don't think I wouldn't have known that your intention was to toss me off the side and act like nothing happened!" Laharl yelled, and I knew immediately that his attitude was no better than a 9 year old having a temper tantrum. I decided it may be best to leave them, and wandered towards the stadium, scythe in hand, but not before I felt the back of my shirt's collar was grabbed, and I was dragged back. Etna was the one who grabbed me.

"Oh, no, not at all, Prince… I just, uh… Was going to ask for advice from this guy here on how to… cure, your trophified state… Haha…" I heard Etna, and I looked to Laharl and saw that he was not amused. He probably did not believe her, and I merely shrugged. "But he tripped before he was about to walk into the stadium, and he… cured you, Prince…" I heard Etna speak; was lying the best thing she could do?

"Excuse me, but, did I look as though I just tripped when you returned to your normal state… Laharl, was it? Besides, I have better things to do than to deal with small matters like this… You returning to normal was pure accident; your choice to believe the woman who was about to throw you over the side, or the witness who she pushed aside. Doesn't matter to me; I'm out of here…" I explained, and I immediately began to walk away, and soon felt a sudden surge of demonic energy radiate from Laharl, though I kept walking.

"You… You stupid human! How dare you treat me in that kind of manner! Me, **Overlord** Laharl; how dare you treat me with absolutely no respect! I swear that when we fight in this petty contest, I'll make you grovel and beg for mercy, and at that point, you'll have to serve me as MY Vassal. HAAAA HAHAHAHAHA!" I heard him yell, but as I walked away, I lifted my free hand and flipped him the middle finger, before I was out of view. That laugh he performed at the end; geeze, I never heard anything **that** obnoxious in my entire life… until now. Now I understand why people would want to turn him into a trophy, and left him like that. And to think he would not let that go with what happened between me and him; why doesn't he find the one that made him a trophy and fight him/her? Probably too pissed off to care, I think.

* * *

><p>After that, it was just silent from then on as I navigated my way through the stadium, until I found myself wandering through to the audience part of the stadium. I could clearly see that there were tens of thousands, possibly even hundreds of thousands of individuals here. Just what kind of contest was going on here again? Oh, right, a contest to prove who is really the strongest of all time. Shrugging it off, I did find a place to sit down, and I wondered just when this was going to start as my scythe was held in my hands.<p>

Sitting next to me on my right appeared to be a mature man with white, spiky hair in a red trench coat, belts over his waist, and under that was basically all strictly black clothing. He even had black gloves covering his hands, a bracelet like the one I wore on his left wrist, and in his right hand was what appeared to be a large slab of white steel-like metal, which I assumed to be a sword. The sword seemed to be simple, yet it also appeared to be quite complicated also. He also had what may looked to be one red eye, and a green eye; strange, but meh. Oddly, though, I felt as if I had seen him somewhere before, but decided not to let it get to me; he appeared to be patient, that's for sure.

To my left was, to my surprise, was what appeared to be a Japanese school girl with black hair, wearing a black trench coat over her uniform. Her eyes appeared to be a normal brown, nothing special-looking, yet something was contained within her; I had that strange feeling there was. She wore that bracelet around her wrist, so it was clear that she was a contender, yet how did she fight, I wondered. Around her neck was what appeared to be a simple necklace, yet I felt an odd energy pulsing from it. Again, I ignored it, and I turned to the main area that appeared to be where the main battling could occur.

On it, I saw what appeared to be a surprisingly large gloved hand on it, yet soon, I saw as it reverted into what looked like a humanoid form. It was a man in strictly white; his hair was silver in color, and his clothing was white with black décor, and he wore a white cloak with black inside, so everything about him was white and black. He stood before what may have been a microphone, and tapped into it to receive the attention of every individual there. A screech came, and it immediately pained my eardrums, like it did to everyone else, but soon stopped just as fast as it occurred.

"I apologize greatly for the delay, there was some… Issues, I suppose, that I had to deal with beforehand. Yet, now that I, your host of this tournament, Master Hand have arrived, I can lay down the rules of the accommodations that each, and everyone of you, will be doing over the next while. You see, this contest is to prove which one of you will be our greatest fighter, and be worthy of fighting one of our veteran fighters. Each one of you has different strengths, abilities, and strategies that you intend to play out when it comes to fighting. Remember one thing, though; this is a combat tournament that has rules to go by, but our major one is to get to know these people that are attending. Who knows, they may become a powerful ally when you need them, or they could become a rival that you wish to surpass in strength, no matter how strong they show themselves…

"As the tournament goes on, I expect that each and all of you to make use of all our services we have to offer. Our participants' fighting orders will be randomly chosen according to their fighting level, how they choose to fight, and whether or not they fight as a team. We will also have several musical guests from all around that will play the appropriate music for fighting, so whether or not you recognize it, I hope it will not falter you in any way. Lastly, living areas… I'm certain you seen them, but don't worry, when you leave, one of our retired veterans will give you the according brochures to the hotel you'd be going to, as well as two room keys; one for yourself, and another as a spare, along with a room number. Now, without any further ado, let the tournament begin!" The host spoke, and he rose his hands and immediately, the fireworks began to fly high and explode, balloons were released, and the large High Definition screen flashed on, exposing the fighting roster for four different tournaments. As I gazed at it closer, I found myself sitting in the 4th division, or at least, a portrait of myself, and I looked to see who my first fight would be with. It didn't appear to be anyone familiar; according to the expression, it appeared to be a normal street brawler and nobody more. This first round would be simple enough, but my fight did not occur until much later, roughly three days from now.

This gave me plenty of time to prepare myself and train myself when necessary, though it was unlikely it'd be needed. But I should not be overconfident with myself; who knows, it might really be a powerful adversary that is merely using that look to disguise their true strength. Meditation and training; I needed time to be able to do this; I had to focus though; merely participating was not my true objective, for I needed to find _**her**_ as my main goal. But, as long as I'm here and until that point, might as well make the most out of this and have a bit of fun. It'll be interesting to learn about whom I'll be dealing with and how they fight; no matter what, something to keep in mind.


	3. Vassal's Revenge

Disclaimer: Still don't own any characters mentioned from Nintendo, M.G.S, Sega, Namco, Shonnen Jump, Nippon Ichi, ATLUS, Square Enix/Soft, AKSYS Games, Sony, and any other animes/manga in the story except for my own. Also, in case you did not know, the plot is completely original, the mentioned characters so far are original, (Dark, Death, unknown woman, and the two street fighters) and expect more, but as far as I know, I'm going to introduce characters throughout; some you may recognize, others, not as likely; those characters for certain are made by the companies mentioned above.

_**The Dark Flame**_

_A Super Smash Bros. Brawl Fan Fiction_

**Chapter 2: **Vassal's Revenge

Several hours had passed since the opening ceremony had commenced; I had learned of my room's location and in which residential area. Sure, it had appeared to be a room that humans shared, and thankfully, it was only a single room, which I was kind of glad to be in. However, after arriving into the room, I had left just afterwards; I found no reason to train in there, since there wasn't enough room. There was enough for meditation, however, I only really needed to meditate once a day, which basically kept me focused for twenty-four hours. Meditation began around what felt like six a.m for me in this world, and I'd be good for until that time. That gives me plenty of time to go to the gym and train.

I left the building basically without much for suspicion, and wandered out to the bus stop, where I expected a bus to arrive at any time. And that is precisely what happened; participants who were training earlier today were walking off the bus and discussing how things went with practicing with them. I walked on when everyone had got off, and I was the only one to have got on. I sat around the back, and like the first time, I was gazing out the window.

"_Dark…_" I listened, and heard the voice of Death come to my ears, and I knew he was communicating with me. "_I'm aware you're up and about, and alone right now… So tell me, have you found anything out of the ordinary there…?_" I heard him ask, and I did say that I'd inform him of what was going on and all.

"_**I haven't seen anything too peculiar just yet… Nothing out of the ordinary has happened just yet… Though, perhaps the most that has happened is basically some imbecilic demon plans to make me his "vassal", whatever that is, if he happens to defeats me…**_" I explained to him through telepathy and the connection through darkness. I heard him sigh on the other side, as if a bit annoyed by hearing that. "_**Hey, don't go blaming me; he was just in a very bad mood or something… He probably forgot all about it by now…**_" I explained, and that appeared to have calmed Death down a bit.

"_You know that the longer you stay in your visible state, the more trouble you seem to get in… This is perhaps the oddest thing that's happened so far… But, you have fought against demons plenty of times before, even if they're different than him… He should be no exception should you encounter him once more and he hasn't forgotten._" I heard Death explain, and I closed my eyes as I thought it over; he did have a point; I train against beings that had no visible appearance where I go to meditate. Fighting a visible opponent shouldn't be much of a problem because then, I can predict their attacks if I see them.

"_**I see your point… Look, I'm about to go train a bit to ensure success three days from now… That is the scheduled day for my first fight in this tournament. I'll get back to you when I have the chance, alright…?**_" I explained to him, and after that, the connection had closed between Death and I, leaving me to realize I've reached the stadium. I stood up, and walked down and off the bus, and wandered into the stadium to where the gym was located. It was across the center arena within the stadium, where Master Hand had made the opening ceremony official. A bridge linked to the battlefield from the one side to the other where the gym was located.

I found myself walking across the bridge, but I could sense that I was not alone here, oddly enough. However, I wandered ahead, despite my hunches, and when I set foot on the center area, I listened as the bridge behind me began to be pulled into the area, and the same was said to the far side. I had no need to be dealing with whatever this was, but I suppose I'll have to in order to press onwards.

"Hee hee hee… I expected that you would come…" I heard, and I recognized the voice as that demon woman who I had a run-in with earlier; Etna. I looked up, and saw that her wings had expanded in size, but only enough to grant her a slow enough descent, and saw her stand before me. She was dressed like she was earlier, only now, in her right hand, was what appeared to be a pole battle axe. In her left was what appeared to be a remote that controlled the bridges that connected the docking area to the gym.

"You ruined my intentions to get rid of Prince long enough to take him home in that state… Now, you're going to have to pay for that… Don't worry though; the pain I'll deal to you is only insignificant in comparison to what I could do to you without this limiter…" I heard her speak, and saw her look at her wrist to glare at the bracelet. I knew her intentions, and though I commonly did not fight women, I had prepared myself since I was searching for one.

"Just know, I won't be holding back, whether or not you're a woman… I fight demons more commonly than you think…" I explained, taking the disguised Soul Eater in hand, and held it so the bladed end was on the bottom side of my hand, holding it somewhere two thirds to the blade with my right hand, and my left held it further away, however, held it comfortably to my senses. I saw that Etna stood in what appeared to be a semi-graceful stance, holding her axe out to the side.

"Oh, I didn't expect you to hold back; it wouldn't have been fun then if you did…" I heard Etna say, and saw her suddenly charge at a sudden speed, swinging her axe suddenly. The first strike I blocked with the blade, knocking her attack off target as I tried to counter attack, but watched as she backwards somersaulted a bit to recoup. I lunged forwards, but she quickly leapt high. I watched as her axe was pointing down as she charged at a sudden speed downwards. However, as she was in mere ten feet away, I simply stepped to the side, narrowly avoiding her initial strike. However, I saw her smirk before she kicked off the ground and leaped backwards, her foot kicking me in the jaw. The demon landed firmly on the ground a ways away, leaving me to recover from the glancing blow.

I decided it was time for a swap, and I charged towards her, swinging my scythe, yet she appeared to be dodging without too much difficulty. Time for a distraction, I figured; I gave one strike that purposefully missed her, the top of the scythe hitting the ground in a vertical position. However, I swung my legs around, and it was just enough propulsion needed to be able to be able to make contact. I kicked her not once, but twice; first in the cheek and the second in the stomach, knocking her back a fair distance; she wanted a contest of fancy fighting styles, I'll gladly give her one. As a quick insurance since her guard was down, I summoned a relatively decent sized fireball and tossed it at her.

However, she saw it coming and easily deflected it with her axe's blade; it diminished at some point since it was not burning on a solid surface. I saw her quickly charge again, swinging her axe violently like the first time, and again, I was moving well enough to dodge or block her attacks. I soon saw the pattern in her strikes, and soon enough, when she swung once, I reached in and grabbed the pole and quickly brought my elbow to strike her stomach. I knocked her back a fair bit away, releasing the axe to let her get knocked back; when she recovered, I could see that she was quite angry.

"Alright twerp, you want it that way, let's alter things up…" I heard her speak, and watched as her axe swapped shape into the form of a spear, and knew her fighting style will mainly revolve around thrusts now, and were a bit harder to avoid than slashes and strikes. I saw her make another offensive charge; she's becoming quite repetitive with her attacks, so I decided to change things up myself. When she was close enough, I brought my hand out and quickly tightened it into a fist on the ground, and what appeared to be a pillar made completely of fire was formed where Etna stood, burning her quite a bit as she was sent upwards a bit. In the process, I was surprised as she threw her spear up in midair, and saw it split into multiple spears made of complete fire.

She probably saw my attack coming, and expected something like that to be able to counter with this. I knew it may not be enough, but I was able to create a small firewall around myself, just as the fire spears all charged towards me, causing me to leap up to dodge them. I avoided a majority of them, but two struck my body, though their collisions were similar to a fireball colliding to me, so it was no big deal. Though I knew my protection against it wouldn't be so useful here, so that is why I felt more burning than usual.

I fell, but, I recovered in time by using my spear to break my fall, and prepared for an attack. But I saw that Etna was becoming quite mad at this point; perhaps she was reaching her point of going all out. I took a lunge towards her and swiped my scythe, yet she easily leaped up to avoid it.

"Haaa… Prepare to die!" I heard Etna cry out, and watched as her spear had disappeared, and spheres of energy surrounded her body. Next thing I knew, I watched as she attacked each bolt to have them fly towards me at high speed. I swung my scythe at each orb that came my way; they were fairly simple to deflect, yet, I could feel a strong power inside her. I watched as she lifted her arms, and a large fire sphere hovered above her head. In almost any time at all, she swung her arms in the motion, and watched as it literally charged towards me at high speed. That's not good.

I tried to move out of the way, but knew it wasn't likely, so I did the only thing I could think of. I raised my scythe in the arch of a blocking motion, and next thing I knew, I was inside an explosion. If it hadn't been for the bracelets we wore, I'd have been very injured; here, it wasn't as bad but stung like hell. When the explosion came to an end, there was quite a bit of smoke, and when it dispersed, I saw I was still standing, and Etna was standing a ways away from me, her spear in hand. She appeared a bit off guard, mainly because I was still moving, then it changed to her in a pissed off attitude.

"Wha-! How'd you-! Ugh!" Etna was yelling all these to herself, and I knew that was perhaps her best attack in her arsenal. I still had a trick up my sleeve as well; time to take things seriously. I swung Soul Eater and released it, throwing it to the side, away from her purposefully, and she saw it.

"Uhhh… Perhaps that made your attacks incapable of making contact…?" I heard her say, but I swung my right harm, the garnet ring glowing as I released three fire balls in three separate motions, and she saw them, and easily moved out of the way of them. At this point, the scythe was directly behind her, and made a pulling motion. In a blinding motion the scythe came towards me, striking her back to knock her towards me. I began to deliver strike after strike with the scythe, using the blunt end as much as possible.

"_**Oh powerful darkness, hear my call;**_

_**Towards this victim, bring their fall.**_

_**Soul Eater show your true self,**_

_**And cut down this being, to eternal hell!"**_

The words I spoke were in an understandable language, and that was when Soul Eater reverted to expose its true form as the strikes turned and began to deal what appeared to be heavy-hitting slashes. Due to the bracelets on both of us, it prevented Etna from receiving devastating scars across her body. The next thing that happened was I paused for a moment, focusing my power, then, while she was unprepared, I swung the mighty Soul Eater in an upwards motion, knocking her upwards in doing so.

I took a moment to recover; using that attack took quite a bit out of me, and Soul Eater reverted to its normal shape. In the process, I heard a thud land behind me, and I saw that it was Etna, but she was in a pose in her trophified form. Her spear was in hand, and an axe behind her as she leaned against the spear. Nearby was the remote that controlled the bridges, which I picked up, but knew I shouldn't leave Etna as she was. I looked to her trophy, and remembering how I had Laharl recover from his state, I touched the stand that held Etna's form, and saw her begin to glow. I stepped away as I saw Etna return to normal, she was sitting on the ground, trying to make sense of what happened to her.

"N-no way… I couldn't have lost… I refuse to lose to you…!" I heard Etna speak, and saw her struggle to return to her feet to try and finish off the fight, but she collapsed once more. I pressed the button that I thought opened the bridges, and they expanded once more.

"You'd seriously strain yourself further due to that amount of hatred towards me? As you are now, you can't stand to fight for too long; sometimes you have to pick your fights, and when to recover from their injuries. "Live to fight another day…" a common quote I've heard over the life I lived, and I stand by it. If I know a fight is too much for me, I take time to understand my adversary's attack patterns, and devise strategies biased on them to earn a more efficient and successful victory." I explained to her, twirling Soul Eater and placed it on the makeshift sheath on my back, looking away from her. "In all honesty, if you had taken time to learn of my fighting style, Etna, you might've been more successful, and I would've been the one who was trophified… However, your impatience to fight and defeat me led to your downfall, despite your best efforts… Perhaps next time, you'll understand…"

I closed my eyes as I finished up what I said, and walked away while I let my words sink in, whether she would accept them or not is up to her. My words had never comforted a demon before anyways, why would they suddenly start now? Then again, I did provide her with some advice that may inevitably lead to my own downfall, yet I did not care. I had overcome worse situations than what had just happened now; demons much worse than her had much harsher combat training than her; hell they all came naturally in comparison to Etna.

As I entered the gym, I thought it over; Etna served Laharl; considering how powerful she merely was, then it would be assumable that Laharl may potentially be even stronger. Huh. Not that I really seem to care at the moment, but perhaps I should train against his hologram with increasing difficulty for every defeat it comes up with until it's equivalent to his abilities. It'd be an interesting fight, I'd admit, though, for some odd reason, I had the strangest feeling I was being watched or followed. I looked into the darkness, and despite my good eyesight into it, I could not see a thing. The further I walked in, the more battle-oriented sounds came to be heard. It was quite evident at this point that I was, obviously, not the only one here; I grasped my scythe as I approached, prepared for whatever I may run into…


	4. The Dark Brawl

Disclaimer: Still don't own any characters mentioned from Nintendo, M.G.S, Sega, Namco, Shonnen Jump, Nippon Ichi, ATLUS, Square Enix/Soft, AKSYS Games, Sony, and any other animes/manga in the story except for my own. Also, in case you did not know, the plot is completely original, the mentioned characters so far are original, (Dark, Death, unknown woman, and the two street fighters) and expect more, but as far as I know, I'm going to introduce characters throughout; some you may recognize, others, not as likely; those characters for certain are made by the companies mentioned above.

_**The Dark Flame**_

_A Super Smash Bros. Brawl Fan Fiction_

**Chapter 3: **A Darkness Brawl

I walked further and further, until inevitably, I could not mistaken the sounds of what sounded like someone using martial arts against some alloys of sorts. I was here once before, and they provide an individual to fight against fully fightable holograms of other brawlers, or alloys designed to fight in basic forms. When I turned the next corner, I immediately sidestepped as an alloy was launched right by me, losing all function upon striking the wall. That was a close call, I would admit; any closer I would've been knocked in the direction with it. I turned to look and see who was training, and I recognized them a little.

This was the man who I was sitting next to earlier; his spiky white hair a dead giveaway, the complex metal slab that's a sword on his back, and the black and red outfit he had on. He was fighting alloy after alloy without his sword at all, easily defeating each one while avoiding or receiving minimal damage. He had a strange dark aura around him now at this point, though, and that intrigued me. So fighting with the darkness was common in his world as well, or he was the only one who could do so. I don't know; one thing for certain, he snapped his fingers and the alloys all deactivated, since it was clear they were not providing him with a challenge.

"Damn machines… Absolutely pointless to fight against when they do next to nothing against me…" I heard him speak, and he turned, and I saw his gaze had met my own. "Hmmm? Here to train also, I assume…? Kind of wasting your time though if you are…" I heard him ask, though his expression clearly showed that he was quite bored.

"I figured it would help prepare me for the challenges I might be facing up ahead in this tournament. I mean, everyone's fighting style is different from the next, their personalities are biased on how they fight, and what they use to fight varies; some use weapons, others use their martial arts abilities, while a few happen to use both, like you and I… At least, from what I've seen from you; admittingly, you seem quite skilled." I spoke to him, and I saw him shrug as he stepped out of the ring, and stretched a bit. It would seem that this man was looking in the shadows, and I couldn't help but question what he was looking for.

"I see… Knowing your enemy's attack patterns will help one achieve their victory against their foe, that is, if they can come up with a counter against each one." I heard her speak, and I watched as he was about to leave, however, I turned to face him.

"A bit unfortunate, however… That you and I will not be fighting against each other in this tournament, since we are in two different divisions. It would've been an interesting fight, though, I would think…" I said, and I watched as he stopped, and turned his head back at me, and heard him chuckle in a slightly mocking tone.

"You'd only _think_ that, huh? More importantly, was that a challenge you were offering me, or are you simply wasting my time?" I heard him speak, and he looked almost half-amused at what I said, and I merely shrugged.

"Think, yes, since I sensed your darkness while you fought… And it just so happens that I…" I spoke, and my left hand began to shroud in a dark fog of sorts, and my exposed skin was starting to have odd, dark tribal designs across it. "I'm also skilled in the ways of darkness myself, and I'm curious to know whose darkness would consume the other's dark powers… Of course, I'd understand if you stepped down…" I spoke, wondering if aggravating him will cause him to drop his defense or anything.

"You'd think I'd surrender to a challenge like that? Ha, you must be in a little over your head; I have more years' worth of training than you'll ever know, you punk-ass kid! I guess I'll have to teach you a lesson by showing you I'm your superior in every way…" He spoke, and by the sounds of it, he was slightly pissed off, but amused at the same time. I saw him walk over past the ring to what appeared to be a hologram training grounds. There was four pairs of headgears that allow us to see the area as one's home world and fight lying on the desk just before. I watched as he grabbed one mask, and input a command into the module connected to the machine. I walked and grabbed my own headgear, and walked in behind him.

"Alright, I had set up the location we'd be fighting in… Now put that on, and let the fight begin." I heard him say, as he put his own, and I followed pursuit, and I watched as the area shifted to what was underground in a very tight location. Machines lie all around, and below us was some strange "cauldron" of sorts; quite odd.

"A simple warm-up should work for the first bit… I don't think I'll have to get serious with you." I heard him say, and his right hand was shrouded with what appeared to be a dark flame of sorts.

"And I should say the same to you…" I spoke, smirking a bit as the markings that appeared to be tattoos remained visible, as he looked at each other, waiting for the other to deliver the first blow. I chose not to use my scythe this time, at least, not until things would get serious; in my current form, I can fight well without my scythe, and I can fight well with the scythe alone without these markings. Having both show that I'm dead serious about fighting.

I eventually lunged towards him, and leaped up slightly while my legs swung in a spinning motion towards him, but he easily took a large step back, easily dodging the strike. Next thing I did was quickly brought my left hand down in an open palm, and a dark blast propelled me upwards quickly. My right hand came out in front of me, and enveloped in flames, before a few fire bolts emitted from it towards the man. I saw him pull his sword out and swung it, the strike disintegrating the magic I had formed. The fire magic pushed me back a little, allowing me to perform midair back flips before I landed comfortably on the ground.

"I underestimated you a little, but still, your abilities are a bit disappointing. Surely you can do better." I heard him speak, and I knew I had to remain calm; getting angry will lead to my defeat if my guard is down for too long. I soon saw him charge towards me as fast as he could, which actually was faster than I thought considering the weight of the sword on his back, unless its true weight is deceiving. I saw his left hand grasp his right, and it looked as though he was performing an elbow; when he performed it, I sidestepped to dodge it; however the next thing that came was a sideswipe of a kick to my side. I stumbled back from the force of the blow, but he didn't wait before he brought his leg down onto my body, forcing me to the ground stomach first.

While his guard was down, I made recover from the strike, swinging my leg which made contact with his own, forcing him to lose his footing and fell to the ground. Before he could counter with a swing of his sword, I somersaulted backwards to avoid the impact of the blunt side, which he then placed on his back again after his swipe. I think I heard him grunt something, but I couldn't really hear it. He wasn't using his sword too often, I took that into consideration, which could creak through my defenses if he tried.

"You're not too bad yourself… But let's see how you enjoy…" I spoke, and held my left hand back, and a dark sphere formed, and I pushed it forwards. "This!" I ended, and the sphere had revered into a dark, deep violet colored beam that made it's way in his direction, which he was able to jump out of the way, but he was inflicted with a bit of pain when it hit his leg as he landed behind me.

"Not done yet…!" I spoke, losing my left hand, and rushed up behind him with a kick, which he was able to block by raising his arm, but could not grab it. I tightened the grasp in my right hand, and what appeared to be a sword made entirely of flame was formed, which I swung at him. It hit him a few times, before I performed a somersault kick, sending him skywards a bit, but he recovered in midair easily. I then watched as he brought his leg into a kicking form, and he quickly picked up speed in his descent, giving me hardly any time to get out of the way. I grazed a bit by the blow, but I'm still in okay condition, but he appeared to be just warming up.

"Impressive, I have to say, you know quite a few abilities, it would appear, but… No more playing games; let's take this seriously!" I heard him speak, and he pulled his sword from his back, and held it firmly in his right hand, almost as if it hardly weighed anything. If he was getting serious, it may be best to learn what he could do here, and whether or not I would need Soul Eater.

I saw him charge again, but then I saw a gem on the back of his left hand glow brightly as he swung his sword with a surprising amount of force in an uppercut-like fashion. As I sidestepped, I could feel the wind the swing had produced, so I knew he wasn't holding back. However, I could not expect him to bring down the blade just as easily, with a battle-cry of sorts coming from him. I was knocked back a ways when the sword hit me, rolling a little, but my hands were able to flip me up to my feet part ways.

But he was right in front of me just as fast, and while he swung the sword upwards, he cried out, "Death Spike!" I was hit not only with the sword, but by a shadow beast formed from the sword's swing, which emitted a bit of dark energy, knocked skywards some. That hurt, oddly, as I recovered just as I hit the ground, and looked at him. He was in front of me once again, and I could see his red eye glint darkly, and watched as he swiped his sword suddenly.

I could not dodge, but I was able to take Soul Eater in hand, and watched as his sword took on a menacing scythe-like form of its own. He swung it quickly and precisely, cleaving through me, though due to our limiters, I was not scarred. After one last swing, I felt stuck in place, like I couldn't do anything as he turned his back towards me with his left hand held out. He grasped it suddenly into a tight fist, and I felt as my life force was diminishing quickly, and he appeared to be recovering from his earlier wounds.

I fell to my knees, but I was amazed; I did not become a trophy, which I was supposed to, unless I was not entirely defeated yet. This man had turned back to face me, just as I had time to recover a bit to get to my feet to strike him with the scythe, cutting him. I then released Soul Eater, and began to chant.

"_**Oh mighty darkness, take hold and fight,**_

_**Diminish those who are within my sight…**_

_**Oh mighty Soul Eater, hear my call,**_

_**Strike mercilessly, and bring forth their fall!"**_

As I said those words, my eyes changed from deep mahogany to pitch black with red glints within them. I was swinging my free arms as I released fire spell to dark spell, and repeating the pattern while Soul Eater reverted to its true form, cutting him up by itself, controlled by the chant and darkness. This was my truly ultimate attack when I am forced to use it, and the worse condition I'm in, the more severity behind each strike from Soul Eater, though here, lethality is not permitted, so it would just hurt like hell. When Soul Eater returned to my grasp, the man was unprotected before me, and like with Etna, swiped the scythe upwards, knocking him up quickly and suddenly.

I fell to my knees afterwards, with the markings disappearing while my eyes reverted back to normal through the reflection of Soul Eater's blade, which the weapon also took on its visible shape. I knew I was going to be a little sore tomorrow, after this fight and the fight with Etna, who wouldn't? I found myself getting to my feet after a moment, and the man's now trophified form landed before me, upright and he took on a pose of his own. He appeared to be in a battle pose of sorts, looking as though he's about to lung at whatever opponent he came across. I breathed deeply after a while of recovering, before I touched the base of his stand, and watched as he reverted to his normal self. He was slumped forwards a bit; looking a little bit pissed off with his sword on his back and more or less, just outright upset.

"Gah… Never expected anything like **that** to come from you, kid… Impressive, I must say… If we combined forces, we probably would be undefeatable, but, as much as the idea sounds, I prefer to fight alone…" I heard him say, as he recovered and stood up completely, and held a hand out.

"Heh, you weren't so bad yourself… And I only perform that whenever I have to get serious. But hell, after your assault, I was amazed you had recovered from the assaults I brought upon you… And like you said, I too prefer to fight alone, though the idea doesn't sound half-bad…" I spoke to him, and considering that we would probably be training a lot, it may be best to know who he is, and who I am, at least, publicly. "Back at where I come from, I was the second strongest, and I'm still trying to aim for top spot… Demitri Flint is what I'm called." I said, giving him my false name as I shook his hand firmly.

"People where I come from call me Ragna the Bloodedge, though I would prefer to just be called "Ragna", but… Doesn't matter too much; all the same, you fought well, and perhaps we may fight again in the future. Who knows, maybe I'll be the one to defeat you then…" I heard him say, and then the area dissolved as he removed the headset, which I did also, and he left moments after.

"I'll hold you up on that challenge, but I won't lose to anyone, even with one entitled, "Bloodedge"…" I whispered softly, before I left afterwards, and put the headset away. Again, I heard movements in the shadows, and when I looked, I saw a temporary glimpse of a woman who was watching me, before she was gone again. She had long, black hair, and most definitely had the speed of a ninja, yet that was all I saw, and something didn't seem right. All the same, I knew my time here was done for the night, and I should resume heading back to the room. However, that woman… Something about her sparked something in my mind… Did I, perhaps, know her? No, Death didn't say anything about her, so perhaps it wasn't too big of an issue. All the same, I didn't let it bother me as I returned to my room after several minutes of walking and a bus ride…


	5. The Dark King of Dragons

Disclaimer: Still don't own any characters mentioned from Nintendo, M.G.S, Sega, Namco, Shonnen Jump, Nippon Ichi, ATLUS, Square Enix/Soft, AKSYS Games, Sony, and any other animes/manga in the story except for my own. Also, in case you did not know, the plot is completely original, the mentioned characters so far are original, (Dark, Death, unknown woman, and the two street fighters) and expect more, but as far as I know, I'm going to introduce characters throughout; some you may recognize, others, not as likely; those characters for certain are made by the companies mentioned above.

_**The Dark Flame**_

_A Super Smash Bros. Brawl Fan Fiction_

**Chapter 4: **The Dark King of Dragons

I had left the gym like any other; however, the thoughts about what I had just seen prior to leaving still bugged me. I mean, why a ninja would be stalking me is something I may not exactly come to understand. But I had a strange suspicion that maybe I once knew a female ninja, however, it was a serious haze within my mind when I try to look back between the time I was in that fire where Death found me, and now. Everything in between wasn't clear to me, and it aches me when I try to.

I merely sighed, and paused when I heard two individuals making a conversation nearby, which I barely made out. One was a voice that was about that just older than a teenager, and the other was more settling and relaxed.

"A chance to meet up with you here is the most unexpected thing that has occurred so far, my old friend. So tell me, what is your reason for fighting here, to prove a point that you can be a tough warrior when you set your mind to it?" This voice had a slight accent in it, a deep like that of a man in his mid thirties.

"It's nothing like that… I merely came here to see if **he **is here as well, because… I feel that since he is a templar, he would most likely and learn of fighting techniques in which we could fight. Besides, I need to know what happened to my sister, since he was the one who took her… I never expected he would return; the powers of those stones are most unusual…" This voice was a bit younger than the previous one. I know the conversation was none of my business, and I decided to press on despite.

"Well, I can tell you one thing, lad… I haven't seen this man you're searching for, though there was one woman who was by far unusual… I, of course, kept my distance due to the fact that she was so dangerous, even with that limiter on her wrist… I never cause most of her features, she had cold eyes, and the weapon she used was a very odd spear… Kind of similar to that holy spear when you took on the role of a dragoon a few times, only different at the same time; how she used it though was similar to one of those found in a torture chamber giving the pain." The deeper voice explained, and that stopped me. A spear, did he say? The wounds on those who she killed were caused by a spear! It can't be just coincidence; so she is here. However, I could not waltz in on their conversation.

"You think this woman might be working alongside him…? Last time I learned, he never fought alongside any female except for his sister who… I struck down…" I heard the younger voice go more silent as the last words were spoken.

"So, it's a fact of confrontation and revenge for him; you killed his sister, and he threatens your sister's life for doing that to him. I have no doubt that the next time he sees you, he will not grant you the chance to live, even with these limiters. If he has that kind of power as you say he does, he's going to be faster than my shot to be able to do much. As I said on our meeting, "My shot's faster, or my name's not-"" I heard, but knew he was interrupted.

"Yes, yes I know… But trust me, I know from experience that he will not stop until I am out of his sight, permanently-" Upon saying that, there was a bit of a rumbling, and a very loud sound coming from outside.

"If you ask me, that sounded much like an airship; we need to look more into this, lad… This can wait, can't it?" I heard from the deeper voice, and soon heard running footsteps coming my way, causing me to hide behind a nearby pillar off by the side.

"H-hey, wait a minute; what is it with you and airships anyways…? We came across so many upon our arrival…" I heard from the lighter, and the footsteps ran past, though there was clinking plates while this one ran by. They had gone outside, and being as who I was, I stepped out from behind the pillar and went out to examine this myself. When I did, I looked up to the sky, and saw quite a number of dark clouds looming at a fairly low altitude. I walked to the center field, where the two individuals stood, who I assume were the ones who were having that conversation. They were looking up at the sky also.

"That's… not an airship…!" I heard the man with the deeper voice, watching as he drew the old-designed short rifle in his right hand. He wore what appeared to be a white jacket, short dark blond hair, and black pants, boots, and gloves. I had reasons to believe that he was some kind of pirate that had a very serious interest when it comes to airships and other flying crafts. What we were looking up at the sky was what appeared to be some kind of demonic eye, glaring down at us. It closed moments later, and strange, purple particles fell from the sky, landing on the platform. Many of these particles combined together, and slowly assumed the shape of some strange-looking creatures, which were humanoid. However, they appeared to be hostile.

"What are these beings…?" I heard the other man speak, holding a broadsword out to the side, ready to fight if he had to. He was a blond also, though his hair color was a bit brighter than the other man's. This man was also clad in a piece of armor plate for his torso, dark in color, with the shoulder plates having spikes radiated outwards. He wore leg guards to a degree, and also wore some iron greaves of sorts as well. A knight, perhaps, I thought to myself, but it would appear they were outnumbered greatly, and by more than just these creatures on the ground; there was a number beings made of the same dark particles above them also.

I heard movements behind me, and I quickly pulled Soul Eater off my back and swung it, cleaving through the creature, which fell and the particles dispersed, but more were being made. Ugh, if it's one thing, I hate fending off creatures like this that come in massive hordes like this. They wear down the individual, but when the individual fight with a team, it becomes plenty easier. I heard gunshots coming from the pirate, damaging those in the air while aiming head-on shots against them. And it would appear that he was finished for a moment, and while I was swing my scythe to cut down those who came close, I heard a gunshot behind me, and I saw one of them was about to attack me from behind.

"No need for names now, but will you lend us your aid to fend off these… things?" I heard him ask, and while he did, that knight I mentioned earlier was no longer wielding a sword, but was now holding what appeared to be a spear, and he most definitely had a powerful jump, since he was at heights where the airborne creatures were fighting.

"Does it look like I have much of a choice here? Besides, it would appear you two are having difficulties of your own… However, it would appear that their numbers are quickly declining, sometimes a good sign, but I'm not too sure… Something more powerful is on its way, I think…" I spoke, gritting my teeth as I swung the scythe over and over, cutting down these creatures by the high numbers, and it was evident the numbers were going down. The knight now no longer had a spear, nor did he have his sword, but rather, he had a bow in hand, releasing arrow after arrow towards these creatures. Clearly that man is multi-talented in abilities, not just swords or spears, curious to know what else he specialized in.

The numbers were reaching the smaller numbers now, easy enough for us to dispatch; a good sign. However, I heard a roar from the sky just after the last thing went down, much similar to a dragon's roar. And these two appeared to have recognized the roar quite easily.

"It can't be… We overlooked a summoner!" I heard the pirate speak out, and from the far side of the arena, and flying at a high speed towards us was a black dragon, which I had to crouch quite low to avoid being swept away, like the two, and watched as it flew back, and landed in the center. It appeared to be some kind of powerful dragon; the wings were very wide, the body was large and quite powerful, and its mouth looked as though it could easily bite through the toughest of materials without really trying.

"It's Bahamut, King of Dragons, and lord of all summon spirits; a beast that has met no match in combat, and would most definitely make easy work of any one of us individually… But, I have a plan…" I heard the pirate speak, and he was quite knowledgeable, I had to admit. "Ramza, I'll try to distract it; you and this lad go and try to get on it and fight it, and end this battle hopefully." I heard the man give his plan, and he wouldn't even think that this "King of Dragons" might be wiser than it appeared, and understand our words.

"But… Alright, but be careful of it's mega flare, Balthier; I'm certain that whoever summoned this wore a limiter like us, so I have no doubt it would make you a trophy in one shot if it had to…" I heard the man known as Ramza speak, and soon enough, he looked at me and nodded, just as Balthier began to shoot at the dragon, though his ammunition didn't appear to be harming it in any way. But it drew its attention towards him, granting me and Ramza to run towards the fiend's claws that were on the ground, though when Ramza got on, he was easily shaken off. So what I did was run underneath the beast, and ran towards the tail. It was moving quite a bit, but I was willing to do anything to bring this beast down.

Ramza saw my intentions, and I could see that his bow had shifted back to its sword form, and he was swung at the arm, though the attack was deflected also. But he quickly ran to avoid being hit, making his way to the tail as well. I was just under the base of the tail at that point, so I took this time to jump as high as I could, and swung Soul Eater to at least grab onto a scale to propel myself upwards in a swift motion. It was just enough to boost my body up farther and faster, and I landed on the base of the tail, though the action caused Soul Eater to be tossed in the air. It came down and I caught it easily, and I ran up along the back, but it was a rough ride, I had to admit; it hadn't been for the tight scales, I would've been tossed off like a rag doll.

I was running up, but soon, I could feel the sudden motion of Bahamut's flight that caused me to lower my body to grasp on for dear life. When Bahamut's body went entirely vertical, I swung Soul Eater, and it was enough to pierce through the scales and dug into the skin, remaining stuck. I had no intentions to be tossed off so easily, and I could hear that Balthier was still trying his best to get shots off to harm the King of Dragons. I was holding onto my scythe with my right hand, so using my left hand, I swung my arm and a few bolts of darkness flew from my fingertips and towards Bahamut's head. The blows appeared to be glances, however, upon closer inspection one of them actually struck Bahamut's eyes, and I had no doubt it caused the King of Dragons to become blind. Though, as much as it would help, dragons had a very keen sense of hearing and smell, last time I remembered.

However, it already knew I was on it, yet still, it quickly descended to the arena once more, landing with a quaking force. It was horizontal once more, so I quickly took this time to pull Soul Eater free, and I quickly ran up along the spine of the dragon, until I could see the dark particles from the back, like those things from earlier. This dragon was no different than them, only a much stronger, more versatile and larger beast to handle as an individual. I continued to run up along the low neck, and as I gazed, I saw the creature's mouth open, and began to glow as Balthier continued to let off shots at it. However, he appeared to have stopped, and began to run the more a sphere began to form in its mouth. If it released here, than the fighting would cease for a while; this caused me to run much faster, still a difficult ride, up until the bottom of the head. I leaped up, and twirling the scythe a few times, I came down with the scythe ready.

"Haaahhh!" I yelled out, as the blade penetrated through the scales through the head, earning a roar to come from it, and it immediately retracted to the strike, and the blast escaped its mouth, and flew to the sky, unaffected by gravity until it exploded in the far-off distance. However, that was the only attack as it let out, as I pulled Soul Eater from the newly inflicted wound, and began to cast alternating fire and dark-based magic into the wound mercilessly, until it collapsed, and it began to disappear and become like the dark matter which had come from the sky. I stepped out of it before it overcame me, and watched as it all disappeared. Whew, that was some kind of challenge, I would admit. I looked up, and saw that the eye was gone, as well as the dark, menacing clouds that were there too; now it was just a normal night sky.

I looked around to see if there was anything else, however, it was basically entirely clear now of this point. I twirled the scythe of mine a few more times, and set it on my back, and turned towards the other two who had fought alongside me.

"Haha, it would seem you have a bit more to learn about combat Ramza… This fellow may give you a pointer or two should you two meet in combat yourselves as adversaries. Not many have fought this dangerous beast before, and lived to tell about it either, or in our current place, they would've been trophified if they should fail against it. But all the same, to end up with a victory like that, I feel you might be able to make your way through the ranks, lad…" I heard the pirate, Balthier speak.

"The name's Demitri, not "lad"… but I would admit, both of you had fought quite respectively yourselves before that dragon appeared. I have no doubt you two will make your ways through your tournaments quite well." I spoke to the both of them, dusting myself off, and I knew I would not let anything else pull me back; I needed sleep.

"Sorry to have offended you, but that's just how I, a sky pirate, am… But it's Ramza who had performed much more than I have in both fights; I was just there keeping those things at a range. My name's Balthier, as you probably heard from Ramza, I'm sure…" I heard from the pirate, and soon enough, Ramza nodded.

"Well, things couldn't have gone any better that what had happened here, should you not have come at all… Quite an unusual warrior you are, Ser Demitri, at least from the way you're dressed, however… Many here are dressed much different than the next, and many speak in strange ways; sometimes we can't understand a single word, despite our knowledge…" I heard Ramza speak, but I knew he had a point there. I saw him hold out a hand, which I held my own out to shake his hand firmly. "Though, you fought with a dark magic that is not like most I've seen… However, should we do meet in combat once again, as adversaries, I think I might know of a way to counteract it… Until then, farewell." That was what I heard from him, before watching him bow respectfully and then he walked away, with Balthier lagging a small ways behind him. Perhaps they were going to finish up their conversation from earlier.

I stretched my arms upwards and gave a sigh, showing I was a little tired, while gazing up at the moon somewhat, blinking as I soon found myself walking in the direction opposite of the two medieval age warriors. I just wanted to get back to my room and get to sleep. Though, once again, I felt those eyes gazing upon me once more, and that sent shivers up my spine. But I tried my best to ignore it when I left and arrived at the bus stop, where a bus had basically just arrived and was waiting for any brawlers wanting to return to the ground level once again.

Once inside, the bus ride was slow and time consuming; if my guess was right, then it was sometime just after eleven; less than three days before my scheduled fight against my opponent. He didn't seem all that tough, but from where I was at, I couldn't get too clear of what his facial expression was like, and that often helped me decipher how tough an opponent is, though some demons in existence don't even have faces, and that caused me to shrug while I left the bus while still in thought. I walked through the lights towards the residential building where I was staying, which appeared to be a modern building with a bit of a Japanese feel around it. Huh, so Demitri was a serious person about Japanese culture or something; easy to adapt to I guess.

I went through the hallways and climbed the necessary stairs towards a room that was a single bedroom. A futon was on the floor somewhere in the corner, a low table in the center of the room, a chair in another corner, and a TV setup against the one side of the room, with the remote next to the flat screen. A dresser was in there as well as a desk and a matching chair for it, with two doorways; one leading to a small dojo of sorts and the other to a bathroom. A suitable room, I suppose; not what I'm used to, however, I can live with it, I suppose.

I walked to the futon, and pulled Soul Eater off my back, and set it underneath the mattress. I know I would be able to find it, due to the scythe-like shape I was sleeping on. Though today was done, I know that tomorrow was another day with more experiences along the road I have chosen to walk down when I decided to be part of this. I laid on the futon, and found myself drifting off to sleep; unaware that same individual was still spying on me to the best of her ability.


	6. The Black Shooter

Disclaimer: Still don't own any characters mentioned from Nintendo, M.G.S, Sega, Namco, Shonnen Jump, Nippon Ichi, ATLUS, Square Enix/Soft, AKSYS Games, Sony, and any other animes/manga in the story except for my own. Also, in case you did not know, the plot is completely original, the mentioned characters so far are original, (Dark, Death, unknown woman, and the two street fighters) and expect more, but as far as I know, I'm going to introduce characters throughout; some you may recognize, others, not as likely; those characters for certain are made by the companies mentioned above.

_**The Dark Flame**_

_A Super Smash Bros. Brawl Fan Fiction_

**Chapter 5: **The Black Shooter Pt. 1

(Note, the title of this chapter is NOT meant in a racist manner.)

Before the sun rose over the horizon, I found my eyes slowly began to open up to the new day ahead of me. I blinked a few times as my blurred vision caused by my sleep began to wear off, and I was able to see more clearly. I found myself sitting upright when my vision had cleared up, and I looked around the room casually, though I had no need to learn of what time it was. I could tell already I overslept slightly, since the surge of power I had yesterday had worn off, and would only come back after a short, fifteen minute meditation session. I got out of the futon, prepared it again for tonight when I was to sleep on it again, and pulled Soul Eater out from underneath the mattress part, and stood up. I was trained to carry Soul Eater when I was both capable and incapable of fighting; though it was significantly harder without meditation first.

I carried the scythe into the dojo area, and upon walking in, I heard my footsteps echo through the small room, but regardless, I saw nothing wrong with it. I situated myself in the middle of the room, and sat down, crossing my legs in doing so, and positioned the weapon of Death on my lap horizontally. I closed my eyes, and I began to focus on two images, concentrating solely on these two objects and nothing else.

The first image that comes to my mind is a burning flame; to some, it would be seen as nothing more than a sight to see or a type of danger. To only just a few individuals, the fire signifies life; a flame has a point of birth, the duration of it burning and the size of it shows how full of life it is filled with. When it does end up reaching the end of its lifespan, the embers signify that the flame's size has drastically dropped and it wouldn't be long before the flame would disappear entirely. Even though I was the assistant of Death, I knew not of what life's true meaning was, nor would Death be willing to tell me. I tried to make an offer on it when he would grant me immortality as long as he was the Angel of Death, however, he did not budge the slightest from his initial proposal.

The second image of which I saw was a shadow; an entity that is lifeless, but is permanent everywhere. I see the shadow being able to bring fear and the end to those who were not careful, but at the same time, signifies secrecy and independence. Shadows keep whatever they cover hidden from sight better than in direct light, and no two shadows are exactly the same, just like a fingerprint. Heh, I sound like an oddball, now don't I; speaking of shadows being something one wouldn't expect, and fire being a symbol for life? Well, nothing I experience here will make me change my way of thinking; my dark flame will not easily be extinguished.

I focused my thoughts for what felt like hours, but really, it was only fifteen minutes, something I had grown used to. I held Soul Eater in my right hand, and held it in a manner like a staff, while also using it as a means to get me to my feet quickly. I could feel the surging heat running through my body, and I knew the meditation had done its job like always. I twirled the scythe out in front of me a few times, before placing it in the sheath on my back, which I had focused myself in clothes similar to yesterday, but cleaner as well.

I stretched a bit while I was here, and decided to do a few individual training techniques, which would be similar to "shadow boxing" I guess. I swung my right hand out in a fist, making a punch, and followed it up with an uppercut with my left hand. I then performed a front flip and brought my leg down in an arched kick, as if striking an adversary down to the ground. Knowing they would recover to counter attack, however, I performed a backwards somersault away, just out of the reach. I knew they would try to attack above me, so I crouched down quickly, and turned my body to have my right leg kick them in the gut roughly, which would stun them surely. I then whipped my body around and forced my elbow into the gut of my "adversary", which would knock them far enough away.

It was like that for another half-an-hour; I kept training against imaginary foes, from points where I was upright to times where I was also knocked to the ground, and even combat abilities in the air. When I decided to wrap it up, I gave a sigh as I relaxed my body, sweat dripping slightly from my training, but at least now I was a bit more focused when it came to combat at least. I figured that instead of fighting imaginary foes, I should go and train against some actual, living entities. I left the dojo contently, and ensuring I had my keycard to open my room's door when I return, I locked my room behind me, and walked down the hallway…

* * *

><p>I was still early when I had arrived at the stadium; the first match hasn't even started yet. The audience was still filling up, if anything, but since my fight was scheduled for the day after tomorrow, I had to get in as much training as I can. So what I did was made my way to the gym, avoiding as many unnecessary encounters as I could. I expected other combatants would be using this time also to fight and train as well, some with friends, some alone, while others fighting their rivals.<p>

I had stepped around the corner, but I was surprised to see it was silent; was I too early to use the gym? No, that couldn't be; there should be people here wanting to use the gym to get in some training, so why was there nobody here? Well, almost nobody anyways; looking out a nearby window was a small-figured woman, generally about an inch or two shorter than I, but still. She had black hair in two pigtails, the one on the left being longer than the one on the right. I couldn't see her face, but her skin was fairly bright, even in the slightly dark gym, or at least what all was exposed that I could see. She wore a jacket it seemed; black with a white star on the back, as well as knee-high laced boots and short shorts; both also black.

I could see on her right wrist was a limiter also, so it proved that she was a contender as well, however, why wasn't she making use of the gym's facilities. I remained silent, and I was about to leave, but then I saw her head turn to look over her shoulder to look in my direction. Her gaze appeared to be empty; soulless and without emotion, both her eyes and her expression; most definitely something I wasn't expecting. Was she the reason nobody wanted to train at this moment? She didn't appear to be too threatening, but at the same time, I don't know how to explain it, but it appeared that she was interested in gazing out that window.

I figured that it was too quiet, and it was better to learn of the people I encounter, and if she was going to be my adversary in this competition, I should at least learn of her. "You enjoy gazing out at the area, or… is there something in particular you're looking for?" I couldn't help but ask; her attention never gazed back even when I asked this question. She didn't even look up even as I approached her; just what was with this woman anyways?

"…" This woman hardly gave out a sound, and never made a motion aside from her breathing, which was calm and relaxed. I could see her blink every once in a while, but she was looking all around the ground lever of this area.

"I think that gazing out like this helps me think straight when I need to later… At least, that's how I feel…" I spoke to her, but still, I got no movement from her at all besides her breathing motions. I brought my arms up and brought my hands behind my head, and looked up at the ceiling and around. So strange; was she, perhaps, a warrior who could not speak, perhaps, a mute more specifically?

"If you don't wish to speak, I don't blame you; whether you were born like that or just refuse to speak to people like me, I understand…" I explained, still looking around, surprised that nobody had yet to walk in, not even that ninja who was stalking me last night. However, I then heard her speak something under her breath, something I couldn't exactly hear too well.

"Hmmm? Excuse me…?" I asked politely, a bit confused as to what she had said, but when I looked at her, I saw her left eye was surrounded in a blue flame. When exactly did that happen?

"…will you fight me?" I heard her ask, calmly, but again, without really much emotion in her voice. Wait, did she just challenge me to a fight? Just how was it that she fought? However, before I could respond, I saw her turn around, and began to walk to that room Ragna and I fought in last night. She took a headset to use, so I could assume that this was an invitation as well as a challenge. I walked to take a headset of my own, put it on casually, and walked into the room she had entered.

"Take your scythe in hand… Don't hold back on me…" I heard her order, but not in a loud, commanding voice; it was still soft, but still, to ask me to use Soul Eater in a fight was unusual. I didn't grab Soul Eater right away, and as such, we stood there, standing before one another.

"Take your scythe in hand…" I heard her repeat the command, and I could tell that she was serious, but even so, it wasn't my style to use the scythe when my adversary was unarmed. Reluctantly, I did take Soul Eater in hand, and held it like I would in combat. I saw her blink, the blue flame never dispersing over her left eye, and I watched as the surrounding area shifted to a strange, church-like area. The floor was set in a tile-like pattern, from white and black, repeated all across the floor. The room had no benches; it was wide and open, yet there was the occasional pillar one could jump onto. The atmosphere here felt quite a bit darker than I would've imagined, but the sound of a heavy, loud collision on the nearby ground from her direction had me look at her.

I was surprised to see on her left side appeared to be a sort of club-like shape, but it didn't exactly look like just a club. I saw her left hand go into the top of it was an arm attachment. I then saw her lift it up, and it was then I realized that by how she held it was like a gun, as it appeared to be a barrel. So she was armed after all, but why it wasn't shown until now, I wondered.

"Don't hold back on me…" I listened to her, and just moments after I nod, I was shocked to see her charge at me with sudden speed, and saw as her gun had shifted shape into a very large blade, held in the same manner as the rifle. She swung it violently, which I hardly had any time to side step out of the way to dodge it. But her recovery was nothing less than amazing; she swung it in an attempt to cause a second and third strike. I was able to knock off the second strike, but my guard was down at that point, which had me knocked up into the air a bit due to it being an uppercut. As I came down, I saw the blade had changed into the gun, and she was pointing it at me. She shot it, and a blue sphere came out at a surprisingly fast speed; hardly enough time to have Soul Eater swipe in a motion to defend against it.

But she was firing it a bit faster, as if it were a semi-automatic rifle, shot after shot I either deflected or made an attempt to dodge. I made a mistake by underestimating her; such speed and strength from a woman I did not expect would be a good fighter. In fact, I expected that her having this large weapon would slow her down drastically, but rather, it appeared to be speeding her up. I had to change my tactics for this fight if I was going to get in and deal any damage to her, but she most certainly appeared to be a battle veteran of sorts, if not here.

I did land on the ground, but her shooting at me did not cease in the slightest, each shot giving out a typical rifle sound when a round was fired. I jumped into the air, moving towards her if I can, and I threw my scythe down at her, as a means to distract her. I could control it to return to my hand thanks to the meditation this morning, but I watched as her aim was set on the scythe, and fired at it, knocking it back towards me. Smarter than I thought; left me incapable of throwing any fire or dark spells at her due to her shot at Soul Eater. No damage was done to it; no weapon could harm it anyways since it was Death's weapon.

I certainly thought she would at least try to dodge the strike, but to deflect the attack with one of her own surprised me. Time for a different approach, I guess, but her rifle showed no signs of quitting; rather, it made me wonder just how much ammunition did that gun of hers carry? Her assault didn't show any signs of shifting gears, so I had to use drastic measures; I was able to dodge and deflect as much of the shots as I could, but I was hit by a few on my way down, though only minor grazes.

I swung Soul Eater in a quick motion in a circle around my, forming a sort of firewall; the heat just enough to disintegrate her shots before they reached me. It was short, but it was high enough so she couldn't get a direct shot on me. With that, she had immediately swapped tactics upon realizing she could not shoot at me, and charged, her cannon pointing up still, but the barrel had a deep glow to it. Wait what; she can charge up her shots so they're more devastating? Okay, not looking good for me. I hesitated slightly, as soon enough she did release a shot, emitting a larger and faster-moving shot, which she followed up by changing it to her blade. I jumped up, just barely in time to avoid the shot, but had little time to react to her appearing before me and swinging her sword.

I swung my scythe, trying my best to block each strike she applied, but she would graze me a bit every so often. One point, I had us in a position of our weapons locked together, and this was my only opportunity. Giving no time, I swung my right leg to kick her in the side; it worked, but it didn't work too well; if anything, it was like a sting to her. That caused her to put more force upon my, and knocked me to the ground quickly. I hit the ground on my back, and I flipped over to my stomach, which was then I recovered to standing completely. She's very difficult to try and defeat head-on, that's for sure, and an indirect approach just wasn't too likely. Could it be that she's the perfect foe that I can't defeat, perhaps?

However, I saw her land on the ground nearby, her arm reverting back to its cannon form, yet she did nothing; she never made a move to attack. She didn't pity me, did she? However, I saw the battlefield we were fighting on began to dissolve; did she quit, or did I disappoint her? She didn't show this at all, and the flame in her eye did vanish now, her gaze returning to its usual, emotionless gaze.

"This… can wait… Something's happening…" I heard her speak, and I raised my eyebrow; she certainly was a puzzling woman. But she ran past me to the door, almost forgetting to take off the headgear as she rushed out of the gym.

"H-hey, wait! Don't just leave me like this! You wanted to fight, and now you're just leaving like that?" I spoke out to her, but she didn't appear to care as she ran down the hallway, which forced me to chase after her, putting away the headset as I left the gym, trying to keep up with her. She was fast, even with her cannon, and soon enough, when we walked outside, I was surprised to see that the sky had darkened once more, and I could look up to see that eye. This was the exact same event as last night, with dark particles falling from the sky.

"Fight with me…" I heard her speak, preparing for combat, and we weren't alone; from the corner of my eye, I saw as a few individuals decided to come and help out. One had blond hair, spiky in a manner as if it were defying gravity, and he wore mainly black clothing with a long sleeve down his left arm. His eyes were blue with a surprising glow behind them. Over his heart was what appeared to be a lion's emblem, and he soon held an over-sized, single-edged sword with both of his hands.

A second individual was a young man, in his high-school years according to the uniform, with a fair-size, one-hand sword, a katana more accurately. He had shoulder-length blue hair, his eyes similar in color. On his left arm was a red banner with the initials, "S.E.E.S" on it, and around his waist was a belt and an attached holster, a gun within it. At least, I think it was a gun, but regardless, he also appeared like he was going to help.

The third was actually someone I recognized; she was that woman I sat next to in the stands yesterday, only now, I saw that she had focused on fighting. Her hair changed to a bright red, and the same with her eyes. In her hand, a bit of flame appeared quickly, and when they dispersed, it exposed a very unique katana that I haven't seen before. It was certainly magnificent, but regardless, she was willing to help.

The last figure was that samurai I talked about before, the one with the "X" marking on his one cheek. He was still dressed in his hanyo, but he had unsheathed his sword, but as I looked at it, it was not truly a katana as I had thought. Rather, it was clear that it was a sakabatou, a type of katana with the sharp edge on the inside of the curve. But this man held the sword the wrong way; it was as if he was intending of using the blunt end only when he's going to fight. I wonder if he knew about this, but regardless, this man better fight well if he did know.

Five allies fighting alongside me for this fight, watching as the dark particles began to form into the figures like before. They were made of darkness, with simplistic designs and outfits; basically a snowman with purples, black, red, green, white, and a variation of different weapons too. Some had what appeared to be swords made of plasma, a few had odd guns that appeared they could charge up, and a few had large boomerangs as well, though a majority of them fought with their fists or fire-based attacks.

A few foes came from the sky, many shaped like odd clouds with what may have been battery setups on their "backs" I guess. Other than that, these were basically the foes that I saw were going to be our challenge here, and there was quite a larger number in comparison to last night, but then again, there was more of us here to fight them as well, so it did make sense, I suppose. I stood my ground as I watched the foes began to make their way towards us as if they were zombies; they were slow, at least when it came to walking towards us, and some didn't exactly attack us right off the bat. In the audience I could make out a few trophified characters, but couldn't make them out from here. Odd enemies, but I knew that this was perhaps going to be a very long fight for all of us, since we appeared to be the only ones who were really capable of fighting at this moment…


	7. The Narcissist, White Shooter and Ninja

Disclaimer: Still don't own any characters mentioned from Nintendo, M.G.S, Sega, Namco, Shonnen Jump, Nippon Ichi, ATLUS, Square Enix/Soft, AKSYS Games, Sony, and any other animes/manga in the story except for my own. Also, in case you did not know, the plot is completely original, the mentioned characters so far are original, (Dark, Death, unknown woman, and the two street fighters) and expect more, but as far as I know, I'm going to introduce characters throughout; some you may recognize, others, not as likely; those characters for certain are made by the companies mentioned above.

_**The Dark Flame**_

_A Super Smash Bros. Brawl Fan Fiction_

**Chapter 6: **The Narcissist and the White Shooter

I could see that all six of us were surrounded by these odd figures, in both the air and sky, but we had to fight until this is over at least. Though greatly outnumbered, I was certain we could get through this, despite the beating I had received against that woman. I would not slow us down at all; this minor distraction is what caused her to end our fight early, and we had to put an end to this immediately to get back to our fight. I had to prove myself to her. Whether it'd be then or now, it doesn't matter in all honesty.

I charged suddenly, perhaps a little recklessly towards a small group that had formed a little ways from us, and swung Soul Eater violently in a horizontal fashion. I had managed to cut down a large fraction of the group, but the particles resumed falling from the sky, and as such, were replaced with twice as many. So this fight was going to be as stubborn as a hydra heard about in certain legends, no big deal though I guess. I heard the gunshots coming from that woman, and separate swords swinging violently in various locations, showing they all had begun their own fights with these things.

I swung and charged forwards, trying to push a large group of them off the edge of the arena. It would be literally impossible for these things to jump that high as from what I've seen. I twirled Soul Eater in a bit of a fashion around me to block attacks from all around as well as counterattacking as well, since it would seem that the numbers around me were increasing drastically. I will be overrun in no time if I keep this up I realized.

I tossed Soul Eater up in the sky, and began to bring focus to my right hand, which was enveloped in flames, and my left hands which was enveloped in darkness. "Haaaa…" I inhaled deeply, raising both arms, closing my eyes as I focused on a particular attack I used only in this kind of situation. Just as some of these things lunged at me, I leapt up to the sky after Soul Eater, caught it, and quickly charged back to the hovering area. I performed several front flips in the process.

"Perish!" I cried out, swinging Soul Eater with a forearm swing towards the ground, and in the process, the blade struck the ground and creating a severe shockwave made of dark flames around me. It would appear that a large number of these beings had vanished just from the initial impact upon the ground, while the others were knocked down to the ground from the shockwave. I breathed deeply, but I turned back to see a few had recovered surprisingly quickly, and had made their assault on me. I was ready to swing Soul Eater to eliminate them, but I heard a gunshot, not like the one the woman made, and immediately a larger katana cleaved through them, dispersing them immediately. When it was cleared, I barely made out an unusual creature.

From what it appeared, it was a dark creature with a white mask with no face, and chains hanging around in certain areas of its torso. In its right hand was what appeared to be a somewhat large katana, now held at its side, and what would be mistaken as wings, was actually a gown of coffins hung around it like a cloak? Its legs were fairly thin, but had no feet, yet it had humanoid hands, oddly enough. I looked closer to see that boy with blue hair holding the "gun" with his left hand, pointing it at… his own head? I then saw him put it back in its holster, and the black figure had disappeared, before he resumed eliminating these beings without its aid. So, he was a summoner, and that was his technique of summoning; shooting himself in the head?

I performed backwards somersaults when the things from the other side had recovered, returning to the center of the battlefield. That woman had moved on to taking these things out up close, eliminating around 10 or more in a single slash of her sword. The blond swordsman was dealing just as much damage with his own sword, as well as concentrated magic abilities too. The red-haired woman with that unique katana was performing fast and furious assaults while remaining very agile; never spending too much time in one place. That man with that reverse-bladed katana- wait, where was he? He was not fighting where I was looking, but I did see enemies go down which were not shot down or whatnot. I then saw him directly at where I was, swinging his sword at one foe, but when I saw it, he had cut down more than one; so he can make a single slash an illusion for many?

I could see that the numbers of our adversaries were now getting very thin, so there was indeed a light at the end of the tunnel, as the saying goes. Everyone had regrouped at this point, and allowed the thinned out beings to approach us purposely. We were positioned with our backs to the others' all of us prepared to deal the finishing blows to end this petty fight. But, oddly, the creatures stopped, and dissolved when we did nothing at all, and began to all move to form a little distance away from us. I watched as they all began to form into a being that was shaped in a manner such as that woman who was fighting alongside us with the cannon.

However, rather than wearing black, she wore completely white, same clothes as that woman, and her hair was white too. Her right pigtail was longer than the left, and rather than carrying a cannon, she held a devastating-looking scythe in her right hand, with scythe blades surrounding her body. However, if she was the perfect opposite of our shooter woman, than her eyes should be red, but they weren't. They were a bright yellow. And she appeared to be surrounded in a dark-looking aura. Geeze, when I thought I fought a devastating foe, this woman here looked MUCH fiercer, if I had to admit.

"Hahaha, I must say that was quite a show from all of you, but… I'd be lying to say it was a well performed masterpiece…" I heard a moderate male's voice from above, and I watched as a figure glided down to stand by this newly formed woman's side. The hell was he talking about?

I looked at him as a bit of light shone upon him; he had long, thick and lustrous silver hair, wore a long-sleeved trench coat of sorts with shoulder guards; the jacket blue with silver lining. And just when I thought this man was bizarre enough, the fact he was NOT wearing actual pants, more like some sort of type of speedos or thong, I don't know which, just sent shivers down my spine. As well as that, he wore come iron greaves, which were also blue in color.

"I must say, if you want an amazing performance, I'd be willing to show you just how well this would work out. It was unfortunate the real version of her could not show, so I merely had to make a fake. Of course, since she is a fake, she will be the supporting role, but I… I will be the lead when the curtain rises." I heard him speak, and I was just literally appalled. He was… kidding, right? Since it's not the real her, wouldn't that make this fight much easier? And not only that, but why was he talking about this whole thing being a staged out play of sorts?

If it wasn't obvious enough, this man was clearly a narcissist who loved himself very dearly, and didn't care about whoever he stepped on in order to reach the top. Ugh, those kind of people make me sick. However, he was wearing a bracelet as well, which he would glare at once in a while, and as for the woman before us, did not wear a bracelet, but there was a strange-looking collar around her neck. It was designed in a similar fashion to the bracelet, yet, somehow, something was off about it.

"Now, now, I hope you don't mind, but I'll watch as you all suffer at this woman's hand… I hope you enjoy this…" We heard him speak, before he took off in flight and headed up to the sky, but no longer seeing an eye, in its place was a very strange-looking aircraft of sorts. Whatever it was is probably the reason that had forced us to fight these things for as long as we did. And it would appear that is where that narcissist is located; so he was behind what had happened last night as well?

"He and I will… fight her… That is all we need to defeat her…" I heard the woman in black speak, pointing at me to fight alongside her for this. "Go and help the others…" She finished, and the other four gave their respective nods before making their leave out of the stadium.

"So tell me, before we get to fighting, just what or who are we up against?" I asked her, and I saw the woman in white's right eye become surrounded in a bright red, almost pink flame.

"She's my opposite… White Rock Shooter…" I heard her explain, and I saw her left eye was still surrounded in the blue flame. So, if that's her opposite, then her name was "Black Rock Shooter" I would assume. An odd name, but definitely just as odd as "Dark Fire" certainly. And this woman, who I will just call "White" for short, held her scythe, ready for battle, while "Black" as I'll call her, had her cannon pointed at her opposite, just as ready.

Next thing I knew, I charged towards the woman clad in white clothing, surrounded in scythe blades and the red glow over her right eye. Soul Eater was gripped tightly in my hands, and watched from where I was to see "White" wave her free hand, and the scythe blades around her each began to fly towards me. I focused on each blade, striking each one away from me, while the ones I could not hit in time were shot away easily by Black's cannon. They did not shatter, but they were knocked away in time to make some ground towards our appointed adversary.

"Let's see how you handle this!" I spoke out, jumping into the air using the propulsion in my running to line up evenly with striking down on her. "Haaaaaahhh!" I yelled as I charged down, but even so, she just stood, watching me without an amused expression. Then, that's when I saw her lift up her scythe effortlessly with her right hand, and easily blocked my two-handed strike with Soul Eater with her own scythe. The difference was, we were basically even in strength, as I was supporting myself only by trying to force Soul Eater through the blade. My eyes widened as her second hand grasped another part of the handle, and purposely repositioned our weapons so Soul Eater was hooked and could not release. Dammit, the only way out was to release the weapon, but I had no intentions of doing that.

Without any choice, I was forced to hold on and felt as she swung rather violently towards the ground beside her. I hit the ground first with my back, but I quickly rebounded upwards a little, and move my left hand to use it to propel me into a backwards somersault, planting my feet on the ground. However, it was only for a moment as I charged again, switching up my tactics a little this time. I tossed Soul Eater to ensure it would go around her, as if intentionally missing her and also kept it out of her swinging range in case she intended to knock it away. Her attention, however, never diverged away from me; perfect.

From the corner of my eye, I saw that Black had finished dealing with the scythe blades, by what I saw, her arm had switched to its blade form. And in the process, saw her made her own charge towards White; two on one, a bit unfair, but fighting against this clone of the original, it didn't matter too much to me. In the process of my own charge, I began to focus power in both my hands, of both darkness and fire, surrounding my fists with their respective element; right in fire and left in darkness. It was evident that White knew that Black was now in this fight now, away from the distractions, and as such, she appeared to crouch a bit, and looked like she was going to jump high.

I looked over at Black, and gave a nod, as if telling her I have an idea, and I know what I want us to do. She didn't seem to be looking, but I knew that it'd be best to just improvise if she and I would up in the same location and help her out if I had to. Just as I thought, when Black and I were both not even in attacking distance, she jumped up in the air, quite high, and now the time to put my plan into action. I stepped to the side as Black rushed past me, but in doing so, I grabbed her right hand with my own, span us around once for momentum, and tossed her up after her double. I also swung my right hand a few times, tossing a few fireballs behind Black, while aiming them in a manner so they avoid her, but will move towards White. I then held my hand out to grasp the approaching Soul Eater, hoisted it onto my shoulder, and jumped after Black and her double.

I saw that my earlier attack was futile, but now, White was having what appeared to be a tough time keeping up to Black's heavy-blade assault. I saw that Black had managed to change things so she was above White now, and saw her swung the blade swiftly and violently. White blocked it, but the force was enough to send her my way. Perfectly executed; I then swung the scythe, intentionally hitting her with the blunt end, and it had stunned her as I swung my scythe in a variety of motions from below her. When she appeared to be quite hurt from the assault, I turned Soul Eater around so the blade hooked around her waist. I knew it would not cleave through her, all the better way to finish things up. I made sure she would not be able to go anywhere at this point, as, like Black, began to spin in circles. My body was horizontal, and after a few spins, I gave a forceful swing, which forced her body to be tossed to the ground.

In doing so, I saw as she began to glow in a golden light, and watched as the trophified form landed on the ground on its side. I landed firmly on the ground, with Black landing on the ground a little ways to the side moments after. I figured it'd be pointless to have her return to her normal form, but I realized it was not necessary. I watched as the trophy began to dissolve into those dark particles from earlier, and began to disperse in a variety of directions. I twirled my scythe a few times and placed it firmly on my back, and saw that Black's blade had reverted back to its cannon form. But she released it and wiped her forehead with her arm, her expression never changing, and appeared to be sweating a little from that. I admit, I was as well, but it didn't exactly matter, as I gave out a light sigh.

"…" She remained silent after that, and I watched as she took her cannon and began to walk away. She stopped though, after passing by me, heading out of the stadium. "…fight me like that next time…" She spoke, blankly, but also quite bluntly to, before she pressed on, leaving me behind. I sighed a bit, looking up at the sky, watching it had returned to normal, and the airship that the narcissist ran was nowhere in sight. Glad he left; I did not want to deal with him a second time, though it may be unavoidable I may run into him again sometime soon. Regardless, I figured this would suit well enough for a training session. I decided a break would be in order for the remainder; get to know the other competition around here, and maybe, surprising from me, maybe a shower as well. Just because I knew some magic abilities did not mean I should hold back on the essentials, like personal hygiene and whatnot. And even more so, despite being a fire and dark elementalist, I can deal with some water-based life experiences and all. Ugh, I don't understand it myself, but no matter, at least I won't scare away the girls due to the lack of care for my body, since I treat it just as importantly as any human, just sometimes, I push myself a bit further than others…

~Meanwhile, with the Narcissist…~

Ugh, that was absolutely impossible! How were the two of them able to surpass my perfection? They should've lost that fight, since she was set to absolutely treat them as nothing more than… Than dirt! I gave a sigh, not that anyone else I could worry about would hear me. I was on my own here in this ship, the Invincible, besides these mindless drones I learned were called Primids, I believe. Such a bore that was despite; if they wanted a spectacular victory, than that boy with the scythe should've used his full powers than hold back, yet that didn't happen. Just who was he…?

"*Krtzzz* *Beep beep* Kuja, reply dammit!" I listened as the screen appeared with a hologram in front of me. Ugh, it was her again?

"What do you want now; I'm busy trying to perfect the mistake I made." I explained, sighing a bit after wards as I could not gaze at her. Not that it mattered, she wore a hood over her face to keep it hidden. But I can see strands of aqua hair with silver streaks hanging from the bottom side of the hood.

"Don't tell me, your "experiment" I said time and time would fail, actually failed? No surprise there, imbecile! Anyways, business… Just get back here, but inform me who was it you fought now." She demanded, her voice pretty solid despite being light-sounding, like a typical high-school girl's. What's worse, _**she's**_ the one in charge, when it should be _**me**_ there giving information to her.

"Just nothing serious, just that shooter's opposite fighting, as well as a strange young man like you there as well. Looked as though he held fire and darkness, as well as a scythe; would make an interesting asset to-" I spoke, but immediately was cut off quite rudely.

"Fire, darkness, and a scythe, eh? Heeheeheeheeheehee… Ohhhh, so he is here! I thought he'd be here, no doubt looking for little old me, heeheehee!" I heard her speak, and I did not understand; what was so important about this boy to her anyways, and why did she want him here to look for her? Did she not want to be found out she was behind this whole setup to be? Despite that, I watched as she slipped off her hood, and exposed her face now, for the first time. Her hair was aqua in color with silver streaks in it, but her eyes were the most striking feature of her. Though her body had an innocent feel to it when looked upon, her eyes had a fierce, cold feeling within.

"Ohhh, I can finally get back at him for what he's done to me long ago… I never heard from the woman he was with previously, but she is not my concern… Dark Fire, servant of Death… I can finally extract my vengeance against you…" I heard her speak, and I sighed as looked away. Immediately, the hologram shut off; what she was doing I had no idea, nor did I care. Hmmm… But, she wants to see him… Perhaps, just maybe perhaps… I can get this meeting to work out… I'll even help him out to ensure she becomes one permanently, and will make him my right-hand man, the supporting role in this drama. Oh, Light Water… Your diligence will be dispersed when I get through with this…

~Meanwhile, with a certain ninja…~

I saw him fight since his arrival here, and I only just now saw him go in do have a shower. I just wondered though, did he remember me at all…? I've been purposely avoiding him up to this point, though he did catch a glimpse of me one night, which was due to my own mistakes. But, he made no attempts to chase after me or whatever; if he remembered me at all, he would've done as such.

Why did you end up changing your name, and why are you using a normal weapon instead of relying on a weapon partner like you used to? Dark… I remember you, I remember being your partner, you helping me become a Death Scythe, only to disappear in that vortex she created to leave me behind… I know you used me and killed my cousin, but you intentionally wanted to kill her back then. I've grown to forgive you for that, and ever since I've wanted to see you again since the day of your disappearance, hoping to see you again.

I was not invited to be a combatant, but Soul and Maka managed to sneak me in here, and so far, I've been avoiding the security around here. Thinking I was a part of this petty, and useless competition of who's the strongest, one of the security guards gave me one of these bracelets, without asking for identification. But, now, I'm avoiding everything up to this point. I really want to show you who I am, someday, but… I'm scared that you won't remember me, or even who you actually are. I was your weapon partner, we had gone through so much together, and, despite being gone for so long, to see you here, I know that you're done your mission.

I… I really want us to go back to when we were together… as really good friends. No, actually… I want you and I to become lovers again… I want us to be together again… I want to touch you, feel you, kiss you once again… and ensure that you're really there. At the same time, I want you to do those things with me, while hoping that you remember me in the process as well, Dark… I want us to be a whole again… I want to be your weapon again… I just want "us" to return to the equation, for the long seven months' time you've been gone.

Your home is at Death City, you're a student of the academy, and before you left, you were just beginning to be accepted by everyone, even Kid who saw you as unsymmetrical… Just, please… don't forget me…

I thought this all to myself as I sat on the rooftop of the building, after seeing through Dark's window without getting caught. I was his lover for the longest time he and I were together; I had accepted him sooner than anyone. The one fight against that white-haired man… I knew that was Dark fighting against him the moment I saw those markings on Dark's body. I had markings like that myself for the longest time, but it wasn't until I became a Death Scythe that I had to cope with them. After that, Dark took them to ensure I wouldn't deal with the pain again, but the thing was, those markings did not appear to be hurting him at all. Just what training had he gone through to control them where I couldn't? I don't know.

"Hey, there she is! Don't let her escape!" I heard the voice from behind me, and I was immediately on my feet and looking to the voice, and saw the few security guards making their way towards me, ready to apprehend me. But unaware to any of them, my other cousin had taught me the ways of a ninja's arsenal, and as such, I was able to use these techniques as well. I pulled one of my strands of hair, and it soon changed until it was a smoke bomb, which I tossed at my feet which blinded the officers. I didn't have time to deal with them, but they now know my face, so it wouldn't be long before posters will be up and about. I was able to get out of there, undetected by anyone, but, now my concern was Dark would see one of these posters, and know I'm here. And I simply cannot get up and leave easily, so in a sense, I'll always be on the run here, until this event is completely over…


	8. Unraveled Mysteries Unsolved

Disclaimer: Still don't own any characters mentioned from Nintendo, M.G.S, Sega, Namco, Shonnen Jump, Nippon Ichi, ATLUS, Square Enix/Soft, AKSYS Games, Sony, and any other animes/manga in the story except for my own. Also, in case you did not know, the plot is completely original, the mentioned characters so far are original, (Dark, Death, unknown woman, and the two street fighters) and expect more, but as far as I know, I'm going to introduce characters throughout; some you may recognize, others, not as likely; those characters for certain are made by the companies mentioned above.

_**The Dark Flame**_

_A Super Smash Bros. Brawl Fan Fiction_

**Chapter 7: **Mysteries Unraveled, But Unsolved.

After what had just happened, I learned that my fight was delayed a bit, due to my adversary to be was actually one of the many who became trophies during the competition. Basically, my fight is now set a week from now rather than a few days; ugh. Regardless, it still gives me time to see the other potential adversaries I may come across in this competition, petty as it may be. The message was received not even a half-an-hour after I walked out of the shower, and honestly, I can only say that my hair is even more of a disaster when wet than it is dry. Normally, when dry, it looks like what is seen as an "emo-over", like a comb-over, but done in the style of "emo" people. I never understood so much, but despite, I did take a bit of a nap after I came in.

However, the dream was unlike anything I experienced; it was also in an unfamiliar setting, yet, oddly, I recognized it at the same time. It was in a long alleyway with a bit of a dark atmosphere. In the sky was what appeared to be a very morbid-looking moon with a wide grin with blood from its teeth, its eyes dark and wide; a freakish feature. I was chasing after a woman with aquamarine hair with silver streaks, and in my hand was a scythe, however, I could tell for certain it was not Soul Eater. It had a black blade, a long curve, and a cross at where the blade began, almost like a pole arm would have. I also lacked potential magic energy, but even so, I chased after this woman.

After a while of chasing, she and I did ensue in combat, her swinging a deadly-looking axe at me, swinging violently and without a pattern. Yet even so, I fought, blocking deadly swipe after deadly swipe, until we were locked with her on top. I swore, she would've killed me, if I hadn't locked her weapon, and kicked her in the gut, knocking her a fair distance away. She appeared to have been seriously hurt from the blow but I knocked her weapon away, and I charged at her. I swung my scythe blindly, even though she did nothing to try to avoid it.

It was there I could see a male figure push her to the side, and had took the blade of the scythe in the gut. I then saw that the axe was no longer there, but now, I watched as this male figure grow limp, and began to change shape before my eyes, but that was where I did wake up. But I heard a female's voice, calling out my name, not "Demitri Flint" but "Dark Fire". That was absurd; nobody knew of my true name except for Death, but… was this a dream, or some kind of… vision? I had no idea, nor do I believe in the whole belief in visions of the future.

But, still, what I had seen in my time of napping was amazingly vivid, as if I had experienced it before. I just shook it off and decided not to let it bother me; I had some training to get done and whatnot. I took Soul Eater, and set the weapon on my back in the make-shift sheath for it. Next thing I knew, I walked out of my room, doing all typical things, and continued on. However, upon just leaving the building, I was confronted by that blonde-haired security woman, the one who I thought could not fight.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, b-but… Thing is, there is a woman on the loose, and she has the typical appearance of what would be a ninja. We actually had seen her in the area in the recent few hours, but some of our officers were surprised she had disappeared with her using a smoke bomb. Nobody was injured, but… She seems quite unpredictable, and if you ever see anyone like that, don't hesitate to come looking for me or any other officers." She spoke, and handed a small card, that was almost like a business card, but it really only had her name and ways of contact. Noel Vermillion was her name, and her phone number was "xxx-xxxx-xxxx" (was feeling lazy). She then walked away, but she then returned, and I wondered if she forgot.

"Sorry to have taken up any of your time…" She spoke, bowing a little, before pressing on to more important things. Huh, okay then… Could this ninja that she spoke about be this same one that I had seen that one evening against Ragna…? Or someone else, since there could be more than one ninja in this area and all, considering how many dimensions are connected to here. For all I know, Earth may have never existed in some of these places. Regardless, I shrugged and I did make my way to the gym…

* * *

><p>I blinked as I looked at how surprisingly empty the gym was, then again, that was beginning to look like a pattern the more I look at it. I sighed, as I was about to set myself up to fight a fake of Laharl, learn what his technique was like, and see if I can find a way to counteract any of them, however, a male's voice caught my attention. I stopped, and I walked away, and made my way towards the voice; the closer I got, the louder the words were. And they sounded to be spoken in a poetic manner.<p>

"**When the war of the beasts bring about the world's end,  
>The Goddess descends from the sky.<br>Wings of light and dark spread afar.  
>She guides us to bliss, her gift everlasting…<strong>"

If you ask me, these words sound almost like a prophecy in their own way, but regardless, I pressed on as I found myself in what appeared to be a library. Who knew the stadium would even have one? Regardless, I looked around, amazed by all the books here; some of which were familiar, others were forgotten. I saw on a nearby desk what appeared to be some novel with a "D" on the cover, the rest fairly dusted. I walked towards it, and held it, and blew the dust off the cover. Some of the letters were faded out, but it was clear enough the title was meant to read, "Vampire Hunter D". And oddly enough, it sparked something.

I was suddenly in a dorm room, reading a book with the same title, and my "dormmate" as I assumed, was a female. She had long, black flowing hair, her eyes brown in color, and her clothing style was a bit more American-style, but there was same kind of Japanese taste to her style.

"Dark Fire… still an odd name, but… I guess it suits the colors you generally wear…" I heard her say, half-amused, before I snapped back to reality. What the hell was that? I was no daydreamer, and what's more, she knew my true name. Ugh, this is giving me a headache. I tossed the book aside, a bit in frustration; what was going on here? Are these memories tricks that Death is playing on me due to me being late, or are these actual memories that were buried away? No, I'm still not convinced these are true. I was breathing surprisingly deep, despite that I haven't done anything to do such.

Why am I so on edge now? But, where I saw that book, I saw another, more recent, but was covered in dust. Even when I picked it up and blew the dust away, I didn't see anything, except the faint, engraved initials, "D.F" and just below it, I barely made out the word, "Journal". I never seen this, but the initials kind of bothered me; it's not exactly too normal for initials to simply be placed on an item rather than a full name. But still, even though I wasn't one to read other people's belongings, I walked over to a desk, and opened it up. However, I was simply amazed at what I seen on the other side; I saw a perfect double of how I wrote… In fact, as I read the few words, it was as if I knew the rest of what was written in the word setup.

Now this really bugged me; duplicated writing that I know- this had to be my journal, but I can't be too certain. As I flipped through the pages, trying to find a name, I only ever did see "D.F" in place of a name. I cannot confirm this nor deny this, but somehow, I feel Death may have set this up somehow.

"**Infinite in mystery is the gift of the Goddess,  
>We seek it thus, and take to the sky.<br>Ripples form on the water's surface,  
>The wandering soul knows no rest…<strong>"

Okay, this rant about this, "gift of the Goddess" is starting to get on my nerves, but it was still said with a poetic rhythm. And when I looked, I could see a man leaning against a pillar with a book in his hand. It had a white cover, with gold trimmings, and on the cover was, "Loveless". Oh, so he was just reading poetry, but why aloud, I wonder. He had brown hair, his eyes blue, and what he wore appeared to be some kind of uniform, at least underneath the scarlet trench coat he wore. It was mainly black, the uniform, with belts here and there. He wore red gloves and a bracelet around his one wrist, the same kind I had. Though he was a guy, he had a feminine-like appearance, at least I thought so.

What's more, his timing with these random quotes kind of bugs me, and I just sighed. I wanted to say something to him, but I decided to remain silent, as I continued to look for any clues of who really owned this journal.

"Reading books of those that do not belong to you isn't a proper thing… But your mind is perhaps filled with plenty of questions about it… Perhaps like these words of which I speak…" He spoke, not quoted, and I looked up at him.

"Why does it concern you of what I do? I have as much right to read what's found here, whether or not they belong to another individual…" I said to him, closing the journal and stood up, holding it in my one hand. He simply looked into the book again as I decided I spent enough time here.

"**There is no hate, only joy,  
>For you are beloved by the Goddess;<br>Hero of the dawn, Healer of worlds…**"

"**Dreams of the morrow hath the shattered soul,  
>Pride is lost…<br>Wings stripped away, the end is nigh.**"

I stood there at the doorway as he said these words; poetry, huh? Sounds more like a prophecy than anything else I've heard, odd as it sounds. But I don't exactly listen or believe in prophecies, since fate is fate; whatever happens will happen, some day or another; many have written down when the world ended numerous times, and many have not been true. I honestly could care less about them, honestly.

"**Even if the morrow is barren of promises,  
>Nothing shall forestall my return.<br>To become the dew that quenches the land,  
>To spare the sands, the seas, the skies;<br>I offer thee, this silent sacrifice…**"

I turned around, and was about to tell him to just shut up with this stuff, but when I looked at where he was standing, he was no longer there. Rather, I saw a black feather float towards me, which I caught and gazed at. What… was he? I asked this to myself, but I turned my back, and pressed on, the journal in my hand so I can examine the words in private. I was too focused on the words I read and what has happened recently I forgot why I was here, and where I was going as well. I was caught off guard when I bumped into an individual, and I snapped back in realization when I was knocked down to the ground.

I looked up, and, I was surprised to see there, standing before me; it was the woman from that flashback, the one who knew my name. It was clear she wasn't paying attention, but she literally appeared to be in shock when she saw me, as if she saw a ghost. She staggered to get back up, but before she could run off, I grabbed her wrist, holding her back. However, I saw her reach up and pulled a strand of her hair, and watched as it took on a different shape, and she tossed it to the ground, and smoke began to appear around us. It was thick, and entered my lungs, which forced me stagger out of it and tried to clear my throat. Dammit, the only way for me to get some answers, and she happens to get her way out of it and was gone again. And what's more, the journal I had was missing as well; did she steal it? What importance did a journal hold to a ninja girl like her?

I know Noel informed me to let her know when I did find her, but I lost her beforehand, and it won't do her any good to give her information on a target that gone missing again. I sighed in frustration, and I just made the decision to give up for today, and just think all this over back in my room. I know I got no training out of this day, but I know there is more to come and all, yet still, there are some things I have a desire to learn while I have the chance.

Enough of this, I thought to myself, and I decided to leave, and at least inform Death of what has occurred so far in my search. If this really is a joke of his, then I'll just go along and pretend that nothing has happened. But, a lot of his work is serious related, so to do this is low, even for him. Unless he somehow received a lot of free time, which I doubt, and all this thinking made me sigh.

-Ninja's POV-

That was obviously too close; I was right there in front of him again, and this time, he now saw who I am. I was too careless, but… I had to follow him, yet I lost him after the bus ride; I checked the gym, but he wasn't there. So, basically, I've been staying up here since. I in fact was about to try searching the gym again, and that was when I bumped into him. I was surprised to see I was right in front of him again, yet he appeared… clueless about whom I am.

Dark couldn't have forgotten about me, could he? He most certainly couldn't have; it's only been seven months he's been gone; even with Soul there to comfort me, it's not the same when Dark did that. But, when he grasped my wrist, I was surprised and I panicked, thinking he would have the authorities deal with me and… I just couldn't do that. In doing so, I had to use my cousin's smoke bomb technique, but in the process, I saw him holding his own journal. I took it when his guard was down; I know it was wrong, but it went missing quite recently, and I never opened it since he left. I let it pick up dust, hoping he would someday return; I brought it with me here, but I lost it recently.

I know it was terrible of me to have taken it from him, but still… If he doesn't remember me, then it's just as bad as him not being there at all. I don't know what changes he's gone through, or even if he knows he's a Weapon Meister like Maka, but even so, if he has no memory of any of us, then it can be better off with him forgetting. Yet…

I want him to be there for me again, like when I was there for him even when he told me of his terrible past. I've lost loved ones as well that I've told him about, but even so, he was much, much younger than I was when I had my loss. In fact, I'm about six years his senior, or should be, unless time runs faster where he is now than where I am. But, still… Maka nor Soul even know that he's even here, and honestly, me being the only one to know is just… something else. I didn't want them to think I was crazy or anything.

"_Dark, I hope you can forgive me… I cannot bring myself to expose myself to you just yet… I will though when the time is right, just, now isn't the right time… I'll return the journal of yours as well when that day comes… But until that day comes, I'll be watching you from the sidelines…_" I whispered aloud, in Japanese, though I could very well speak English. With that, from where I was watching him leave, I slowly walked into the shadows, and began to navigate my way through the darkness to the bus back down to ground level, and regroup with Maka and Soul in their appointed room. I still wondered, though, where did Blaire end up…?

-POV Change-

Today wasn't any good either! Absolutely no respect by anyone, and certainly no sign of that one human with that scythe; a complete disgrace to ME, Overlord Laharl! I mean, I sensed a strong, dark presence from the weapon, but it surely cannot be too much stronger than me. Besides, he may not control the weapon too well either anyways, which will be all the more reason to be merciless with him. He will be begging for mercy when I give him a taste of what a powerful Overlord can do, and that will be when I make him a vassal lower than the Prinnies at the castle! Even lower than Flonne!

Upon entering the room of mine, I could see that both Flonne and Etna were in there, Etna leaning against a wall, still upset about her loss against him. He must be quite strong to be able to defeat her, but I'm stronger than her, so he will have a harder time against me, that's for sure.

"Oh! Sir Laharl, welcome back! I hope you don't mind, but… I found this cat on the streets outside, and since she didn't have a collar or anything, she might be a stray. I don't want her to be taken away by animal control! I don't want anything bad to happen to her! Please Sir Laharl, let her stay here?" Flonne asked, and as she said, there was a purple cat with what appeared to be a witch's hat on its head. Honestly, why would she bring in a stray cat from outside?

"Flonne… I'd say this is perhaps the weirdest thing you've asked me for, and you know my bad experiences with animals… But, I may make an exception, if… You order room service for just me for two weeks! And not just inexpensive, unappetizing meals either; I want only the best food this place offers! And it starts now!" I ordered; oh how I enjoy being an Overlord; certainly much better than my old man, anyways. And what's even better, if I do something with a condition, then at least Flonne shuts up about it later on.

"Don't worry, Sir Laharl, I'll order something you'll enjoy…" Flonne spoke, standing up, and appeared to run over in a manner to hug me, but I glared at her before she even reached me. She knows how much I hate hugs, but even so, I'm only like that when Etna is around; as another demon, she could easily spread this news around the Netherworlds.

"As for me, I'm going to try and find that twerp and make him regret ever doing that sort of thing to me… He will die if he ever sets foot in the Netherworld!" I heard Etna rant; clearly she has not gotten over her defeat with that boy, and before I knew it, she left the room. Flonne had finished her call for the Room Service.

"Flonne, you get the food! I know they will bring it up, but I want this to be you to check and see if they… I don't know, try to poison me or something." I said to her, and Flonne immediately understood, but that was not the reason why I had her leave. When Flonne left the room as well, closing the door behind her, I turned and looked at the cat. I approached it, and looked down at it. It meowed, a bit oddly I admit, but I couldn't help but find it… would it be wrong for an Overlord to consider it "cute"? No, more like… "interesting" I guess.

"You're certainly different than most cats from the Netherworld… Normally cats would have a more… normal meow than yours, no offense…" I said to it, shrugging, expecting it to remain silent, not understanding what I say.

"Don't worry about it, I hear it from where I come from too, nya." I heard a female voice speak, and I shrugged.

"Huh, I see-" I stopped when realization hit; I was the only one in the room, but why did I hear another voice. "Huh? Who said that? Show yourself!" I yelled, my scarf extending out as I pulled my sword from it, ready to seriously harm whoever it was.

"Silly boy! That was me, nya!" I heard the voice, and when I heard it, I looked to the cat, but saw it was no longer a cat. Standing in its place was a woman with purple hair, in a long sleeved jacket, but her clothes, little as they were like Etna's, did nothing to hide her body, AND one of my only weaknesses! I jumped back and away from her, somewhat in pain.

"UWAHHHHHHH! Get that curvaceous, sexy body away from me!" I yelled at her, my sword pointed at her, but even so, I was struggling to just keep it held; not even Jennifer caused me to do this! It must be because she has a cat-like personality to her, much like a… Nekomata from the Netherworld! They too have sexy bodies! I now regret having to send Flonne away; I need her here to keep this… woman away from me! I wanted to call out for Flonne, but I simply couldn't; my pride was on the line, and if I requested help from an angel, I will never be looked at the same in the Netherworld! But here and now, I'm doomed; I can't fight straight and more importantly, I became a trophy last time due to a woman taking advantage of my weakness! However, I saw her grin as her eyes narrowed; she must've caught on, or...

"Awww... Someone's still going through puberty, aren't they nya? Don't worry though boy, I'll teach you everything you need to know, nya!" She said, and I immediately got the impression of Jennifer when I first met her, but in fact, this woman was worse. I staggered back, but she was walking towards me.

"No, I said no! Stay away from me dammit! NOOOOO!" I yelled, before I was overwhelmed by an unknown force, like the first time I became a trophy...


	9. Old, Strong Memories

Disclaimer: Still don't own any characters mentioned from Nintendo, M.G.S, Sega, Namco, Shonnen Jump, Nippon Ichi, ATLUS, Square Enix/Soft, AKSYS Games, Sony, and any other animes/manga in the story except for my own. Also, in case you did not know, the plot is completely original, the mentioned characters so far are original, (Dark, Death, unknown woman, and the two street fighters) and expect more, but as far as I know, I'm going to introduce characters throughout; some you may recognize, others, not as likely; those characters for certain are made by the companies mentioned above.

_**The Dark Flame**_

_A Super Smash Bros. Brawl Fan Fiction_

**Chapter 8: **Old, Strong Memories

As much as I tried to look back into my past, I could not find anything that told me that I was elsewhere before I was with Death. But those visions were beginning to get to me, and think maybe he's doing something to yank my chain or something. However, as much as I tried to accept it as that, perhaps a part of my life was missing and I was not familiar with what it is. Or something happened and I merely forgot them, though they are locked somewhere deep inside my mind. I was up for hours last night just thinking about the events, but I never found any memories since.

I decided that, perhaps it was a joke tossed on me from Death due to my delays, yet I tried not to let it get so me. My day started; a half an hour worth of morning training, a bit of a meal just after, and wandered about for the day, meeting with the people that walked around here, did a bit of training, and I also read a little in case I could find anything about my past. Nothing ever did ring inside my head, and as such, I went back to my room; that was just for yesterday. Today, however, would probably be the most experience-filled day of my life.

It started off usual, everything was typical, but when I was at my bed, I could've sworn I saw movement outside my window, but it was gone when I looked up. She was probably watching me as usual, not really a bother; I actually grew used to her being around watching me. For all I knew, she had potential reasons to watch me, but the next time she makes the mistake to encounter me up close, I will bring her here and "interrogate" her of what she knows, and why she follows me around in the shadows of all places. I know ninja are shadow folk, and never like openly exposing herself, but part of her wasn't like a usual ninja, more like a trainee or "genin" class rated, yet I had no other thoughts of it.

I went up to the gym like usual, yet today it wasn't completely abandoned; there was an individual here, however, I sensed two presences here, though I never exactly found the other person. The woman fighting had long, blonde hair in pig tails, wore what appeared to be a school uniform underneath her black trench coat, and was using a unique scythe. The gem appeared to look like an eye, it was on both sides, and there was a red wave design along the sharp side of the blade. It was that young woman I saw when I first arrived, I now realized, but she didn't see to know that I was here even. But then I saw her suddenly stop, tossing her scythe up a little ways, and it glowed, and shifted forms into a humanoid shape. I never saw it before, but oddly, it felt like it was normal for me to see, oddly enough; weird.

The humanoid, after the glow ceased, was what appeared to be a young man with white hair, wore an orange shirt underneath a black jacket and brown pants. In his hair was a black headband of sorts, keeping most of it back, for whatever reason, I don't know. He held a bored expression on his face, his eyes were red, and he appeared to be looking up, for some reason. I don't know these two people, yet… something inside me felt like they were, somehow, familiar.

The girl looked around, and it didn't seem like she noticed me there yet, and she looked to the person who was once her scythe. "Seems like another silent time to train, isn't it Soul?" I heard her ask the male. Odd, a young man who was named "Soul", but it didn't sound too odd, now that I looked at it.

"Of course, considering the people are watching the competition fights going on, why would anybody even be here…?" I heard him explain to her, and then he looked around himself, and then I saw him look my way. "Well, I guess we aren't alone, after all, Maka…" He said to her, and then she turned around and she looked at me. It was barely noticeable from where I stood, but I couldn't help notice how her eyes widened slightly upon seeing me. Did I forget to do my hair this morning, I wondered. However, I then saw her drag him to the side, and I heard them whispering to one another, but I couldn't hear them. I just sighed and looked out the window, but then heard the young woman called Maka approach, Soul keeping his distance a little.

"Dark Fire…?" I heard her ask, and even though it was my name, I showed hardly any retaliation. "Darrrrk…?" I heard her repeat, and I saw where this was going to lead. Odd enough she knew my name, but I had to make it seem like I had no idea what she was talking about.

"I'm sorry, but are you trying to talk with me?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow, as if unsure as to what she meant. A typical thing a stranger would say

"Oh, I'm sorry… You see, you look an awful like one of our acquaintances who somehow disappeared seven months ago, is all… We thought you were him, but, I guess not." She said, but then I heard Soul walk next to her, and looked at me.

"Listen, quit putting on this act; we know it's you Dark. Nobody else has that same hairstyle as you do…" I heard him explain; he certainly was one to jump to conclusions, and I even saw how Maka glared at him, but he didn't stop. "You went missing seven months ago chasing after this woman who wanted you dead, and you wanted to end things with her. But you chased after her when a portal opened up, taking her in, and you made a promise to a really good friend of yours at the time, your-" However, before he finished, Maka smacked him in the back of the head, cutting him off.

"Look, I have no idea what you're talking about, nor do any of those things of which you talked about doesn't ring any bells. I know that there are others out there who have this hairstyle; so don't go jumping to conclusions of who I am. My name is not Dark, I'm Demitri Flint…" I spoke, somewhat annoyed with Soul for some reason. But, even so, some of those things did come up, if only slightly in my mind when he said them.

"Stop trying to hide it; sorry to be like this, but you can't go on pretending to be someone you're not. You don't know what we had gone through during your absence at the academy; so much happened so fast. When you were gone all those months, many of us believed that Light had somehow managed to overpower you and killed you. Sure, I may not have, but I at least knew you were strong enough in your own way." Soul carried on, despite being smacked by Maka a second time. Light? Who did he mean by that, unless he… was meaning Light Water? But how did he even know about her?

"Soul, just stop it!" I heard Maka yell at him, annoyed with him, and then she looked at me. "Dark, just come clean and tell us you're really you. She misses you; you know, your weapon partner… She has always been hoping that someday you would return to Death City for you; Soul and I did all we could to try and comfort her during your absence. Just… please…" I heard her ask, but even so, she herself was being a bit stubborn to have me admit who I really am.

"I'm telling you I'm not Dark Fire… I don't even know what you're even talking about, so why are you putting me through intervention over something that is actually meant for someone else?" I said to her, but then I saw both Maka and Soul look at one another, and it would appear they both had something in mind.

"Perhaps this will remind you of where you're actually meant to be…" I heard Soul explain, and Maka grabbed my wrist, surprisingly tightly for a young woman, and she dragged me into the training room. Soul had grabbed three headsets, one for each of us, and entered behind us. He forced one on me, as much as I began to struggle, and Maka took one, while he put on the last one, and input a location. That was when the landscape began to form around us. It was in front of what appeared to be a walled off city, with an odd "castle" or something at the top of the hill. In the sky was a sun with a large grin on its expression and wide eyes, and that was when I saw the morbid-looking moon as well in the sky. The same one in the vision I had the other day.

"This was your home for the longest time, Dark… At first, you weren't accepted too well by any of us, due to you being different; you could not find a weapon partner who had a matching Soul Wavelength as you did. Death did all he could to ensure that you would have a suitable weapon to fight with, and it wasn't until you met Avery…" She spoke, and I watched as the hologram of that ninja walked towards us; she showed hardly an expression on her face. "It wasn't until you met Tsubaki's cousin that you had someone willing to fight alongside you. You offered her so much, and in fact, you two became real close real fast. You two fought so well, that you were able to help her become a Death Scythe, faster than anyone else in the academy's history, in fact."

"But even though you two were close, you had a rival who had problems with you who was part witch… Light Water; she was part Meister, but she had a witch for a mother, and as such, explained how she was able to conjure up spells while using a weapon at the same time. She was also a first, but she quickly became rogue; you and her had so many fights with one another, she absolutely wanted to refuse your existence. She was convinced at a young age that it was your parents that killed her mother, and why her father went missing. She wanted to get rid of your entire family; we even watched as she killed the few people who watched over you when you had nowhere to go." I heard Soul explain this part, and the environment changed, almost to a flaming wreckage that has been recently attacked. "You chased after her when she did such, with Avery in her now Death Scythe form you had helped her recently awaken to. Reckless as you were, you were able to fend her off. But rather than killing her, you killed her weapon partner, Avery's and Tsubaki's other cousin, Ken, who had made the decision to take the blow rather than seeing his Meister be killed before his eyes…" It was here that it changed to what appeared to be a continuation of that vision the other day; I watched as the figure who I could not deny as myself pulled the scythe out of the male's wound, and watched as the scythe I held took on a human form, and when the light faded, it was that ninja girl who was following me. The male glowed, and turned into a floating sphere with odd flame shapes coming from the sphere. There wasn't any speech that could be heard, but when I looked to the woman who was pushed aside, I could not deny she held the characteristics Death had explained to me.

"Enough of this!" I yelled, and I removed the head gear, and the holograms and settings were removed, returning to the training room. "Look, I don't know what you're trying to prove here, but I've only known about one thing; my parents died in a fire, and I was to be killed as well, but… Rather, my purpose was meant for another reason. I was never meant to be one of these so-called, "Meisters" you call them, nor have I ever worked with a partner in all my life. Only I control my memories; stop trying to push these lies upon me you two and stop telling me about who I am supposed to be. Only I know for certain who I am supposed to be; nobody can tell me who I should be or how I'm supposed to act. Or even who I'm supposed to be with, dammit!" I yelled, explaining to them as they removed their headsets after.

"Dark, why would we lie to you about this? What reason do we have to do such a thing to you, after all the pain, suffering and torment you had gone through due to Light's existence? What's wrong with us trying to set your path back on course to what it was; are you that lost and blind for being gone for those seven log months to forget us; to even forget about Avery? She has never forgotten about you; she has her reasons to believe you'll return to her someday." Maka went on, and I closed my eyes as I turned my back to them.

"Maybe there was another man named Dark Fire who you're mistaking me for, because all these images and words you're saying to me mean nothing to me! Have you ever considered that at all either of you?" I yelled, and that is what caused the tattoo markings of the darkness to appear on my skin, and I saw Soul grimace his sight away. Maka simply looked down, away from them as well.

"There… is one last thing you need to see. After that, we'll leave you alone…" I heard Maka say, but soul looked at her, as if shocked to hear her say she'd give up. But I sighed; if it was only one thing, I might as well. I put on the headset, and Maka did the same with hers, and the setting changed again. Next to me was the woman, "Avery" they called her, and she wore the typical getup I seen her have, however, across her body were this dark, tribal markings that looked like tattoos, much like the ones I had. Actually, they were _**exactly**_ like the markings I had.

"Before she became a Death Scythe, Avery was cursed by a witch; those markings you now bare were once hers, and they granted her strength, at the cost of her slowly slipping into madness. That is one of the reasons why you two had worked so fast to obtain the souls necessary for her to become a Death Scythe. However, instead of the markings disappearing all together after she consumed the witch's soul, they were transferred onto your person, since she was giving the choice to either keep a hold of them, or force them upon you… But you were wanting to help her get rid of them, so you took it upon yourself to take the markings away to keep to your word, despite it being against her best wishes. You only wanted what was best for her, and for her to live a long and peaceful life; one that you thought she respectfully deserved…" Maka explained, but all these were causing me to calm down; actually awakening memories I did not expect. She was right, but… I cannot simply let her know that; I want Avery to tell me these things herself if they really were true.

As she said, the holograms and settings disappeared after a while, and Maka removed the headset. "Come, Soul… We have something we must take care of; Demitri Flint here wishes to be alone…" I heard Maka say to him, referring me to the name I said to them, and as much as he wanted to keep her back, he was dragged out by the wrist, and I was left there to think. I fell to my knees when Maka and Soul were out of sight, as one particular memory ran through my head.

-Flashback-

_ I was standing before her, looking at her as her markings covered the exposed parts of her skin. I held her hands, giving it time for the soul she had recently consumed to go through her, and made her stronger. This was the last one she needed to be free from the curse she had been with for the longest time. I released her hands when she winced, and I learned from what I've seen that she was going through the Death Scythe transformation. But even so, she approached me and suddenly embraced me, holding me close as the markings didn't seem to be going anywhere._

_ Was this a lie, I wondered, but that couldn't be it. But, then, I saw her look up at me, and saw her open her mouth to speak. "I guess… I'm to be stuck with them…" I heard her say, but for some reason, I didn't want her to go through with any more torment with those markings. At that time, I began to ask for her to be spared from the madness, and that I should be the one to undergo what for she had always thought to be a great burden. When I did so, however, she just looked at me, not knowing that her markings were slowly disappearing from her body. I then leaned in and pressed my lips against hers, and that was the last connection needed for the remainder of her exposed markings to disappear off her, and began to appear on me. I can feel the surge going through my body as I took the markings, even if against her will. Soon enough, I did pull away, and gazed at her._

_ "Avery, please forgive me… I don't wish to see you suffer any more with this curse you had been stuck with since Zho's passing… I want your life to be free, like I've always wanted you to be since you and I met, and I learned of these markings. I want this because I love you…" I said to her, lightly stroking a hand through her hair. I held her hand, and began to concentrate with all my might and, inevitably, I saw her begin to glow. In a few moments, I saw her change shape into her new form, the Death Scythe, the final form that any and all Weapons anywhere. With her, I know now that we have the power needed to be able to fight Light Water, and end this conflict once and for all…_

-End of Flashback-

I was looking at the ground when I snapped back, my hands on the ground while I was still on my knees. I… am Dark Fire, not simply because it was the elements I possessed, but rather because it really was my name. Hard as it sounds, Soul and Maka were right, as much as it pains me to accept, but… I simply cannot confirm this without Avery. The next time I meet her, I need to will her to become my weapon again… I may have forgotten how to do it, but still, I have to try. If this does occur, then I accept who I am, but if not… I don't know what to think.

After a moment, I did find the strength to stand back up, and I looked up, removing the headset, and walked out of the training room. I set it back, and then I left the gym, took the long way around due to the fights still going on, and I made the decision to return to my room to correctly think of all these events through. But, I wonder just how I'll act the next time I should run into Avery, whether it is purposely or accidentally…


	10. Meeting a Veteran

Disclaimer: Still don't own any characters mentioned from Nintendo, M.G.S, Sega, Namco, Shonnen Jump, Nippon Ichi, ATLUS, Square Enix/Soft, AKSYS Games, Sony, and any other animes/manga in the story except for my own. Also, in case you did not know, the plot is completely original, the mentioned characters so far are original, (Dark, Death, unknown woman, and the two street fighters) and expect more, but as far as I know, I'm going to introduce characters throughout; some you may recognize, others, not as likely; those characters for certain are made by the companies mentioned above.

_**The Dark Flame**_

_A Super Smash Bros. Brawl Fan Fiction_

**Chapter 9: **Meeting a Veteran

It's been three days since that encounter with Soul and Maka; over these past few days, trying to remember, my memories of old were slowly being exposed. However, many of the parts of my past were still faded; I still had no idea why I would leave Avery behind just to chase after Light Water. I know now that the woman who Balthier had described had to have been Light, there can be no other explanations for it. But if I know her enough, she would've quickly moved on and changed her methods of combat; no recorded deaths have been brought up, but there have been more frequent cases of trophifications occurring all over Brawl Central. The latest case happened to a veteran of old, who was asked to be left behind due to his combat abilities mirroring another's, but stronger yet slower.

I was currently in my room, looking out my window and down at the people walking around, while I was trying to figure out more of my past. While I did so, I did the only thing I could do, and that was to write down my experiences and describe them. The experiences I'm talking about are the times I was called Dark Fire by everyone around me, and the memories of Avery and I. I had that feeling there was more going on between her and I than what Soul and Maka described to me. Every once in a while, I'd see a vision of her and I growing close to one another, about to kiss, before another vision moves to take its place.

The more I thought about it, the more I began to thought that maybe I actually cared for her as that "one special person" that everybody has at some time in life. Haha, here I am, Death's assistant, or perhaps not even so, talking about one of life's greatest moments one can experience. I mean, Soul and Maka mentioned a Death before, but something about it told me perhaps this was someone completely different than the Death I knew. I shook my head as I then stood up, closing the new journal I had purchased with some of the currency, Smash Coins as they're called, and set the pen down next to it at the desk. I look at Soul Eater, laying against the nearby wall; to think that Soul would have the same name as this scythe here, and he was a scythe himself, I couldn't help but crack a small laugh at it.

I had never laughed in the longest time, I knew this, and as such, made me wonder why I was concealing it and my more positive emotions back. But then I remember Light, and I remember why I tend to be like this. Yet, with Avery, I was so much more… positive and outgoing, in comparison to whom I am now. I have a theory on what may have happened; upon entering Death's realm, I was either meant to be killed or to become a normal mortal, but seeing my use, Death may have influenced my mind to think I was his servant all along. Light somehow got entangled into the mix, and began to murder the individuals and took the souls, and as such, Death had me travel with him to find her. But now here I am, on the search for her not because she was Death's enemy, but **my** rival and opposite.

I closed my eyes, and walked towards Soul Eater, and focused into the weapon, and focused on Death. The scythe slowly began to become transparent, and inevitably, disappeared altogether, though I knew it would be back in Death's possession. But I had it to make sure that the message he got from it is that wielding it in itself would be a risk from here on out, and I figured it might, especially since that, if what Maka and Soul told me is true, then my weapon should still be here somewhere. Perhaps that is why she kept running away from me; the fact I was in possession of a weapon that was not at all her. But only she can say the answer, this I knew, and as such, I just looked out to the sky for a while, before I began to make my way towards the arena…

* * *

><p>I stepped off the bus casually, and watched as the passenger piled in afterwards, before I walked forward and into the building. I took the long way around to get to, not the gym, but a sort of "meeting room" I guess. Just outside the door, I can already tell it was quiet, even for a busy day with fights happening and all that. I took a deep breath, and opened the door before stepping in, and looked around. It looked deserted, like nobody had stepped foot inside the room for quite some time. My eyes wandered about, spotted a cardboard box on one corner yet saw it of little importance, as I walked towards a window looking out towards the stadium.<p>

I watched as two individuals fought against one another, and despite being as far away from the fight as I was, I could see the contestants clearly. One of them appeared to be wearing a yellow tank top with what appeared to be a black, "X" cross from the top of the shoulders to his waist. He wore blue pants and blue shoes, and his hair was a bluish silver. In his right hand, held in an overhand fashion, was a similarly unique weapon; a sword that took on the shape of a bat wing, with a blue jewel embedded near the guard of the weapon. He was moving quite fast, avoiding the attacks which were launched towards him, which appeared to be an assortment of gunshots and magic.

I looked at his opponent, and it was a female; she wore a white top that split in between her B, possibly C cup, breasts, and a strange-looking tattoo was embedded there. She also wore what appeared to be blue short shorts underneath a half-skirt draping over her left leg. She had almost knee-high boots, yellow armbands, a strange pink hood/scarf around her neck, as well as a ponytail, or something like that, running down along her back. She had brown hair, and in her hands were two pistols, and by how she attacked, she appeared focused, but also included a certain grace to them to her movements, a sort of dance-like motion.

I had no doubt these two came from worlds all their own, and were not accommodated to the others' fighting styles. But seeing two strangers meeting and fighting… something made me look down for a moment. When I looked up, I could see that these two were having quite a bit of fun out of this as well; so perhaps this wasn't all about bragging rights and aiming for top spot, like how Laharl would picture it. The point of this is to make new friends, get to learn with one another, fight alongside them, and perhaps, in the future, even face them in battle. As I remember, nobody actually died in this tournament, only became trophies at the end when defeated. I smiled a bit, for some reason.

However, I heard the door open behind me, and when I turned, I looked at the figure standing before me. It was a figure in full body armor, but not like the medieval era's or whatever. This style of armor appeared to be from a futuristic dimension, as on the right arm, in place for a regular hand, was a cannon. The armor was mainly orange, with lighter shades, almost yellow, in the stomach, pelvic and lower chest areas, and darker shades for everything else. The helmet was red, with what appeared to be a green visor where the individual would look out of. On the left wrist was a similar bracelet, showing they were a contender as well. What's more, it was hard to determine this individual's gender, considering the armor's design, and not being able to see through the green visor clearly was another challenge to unmask this individual's identity.

I watched as they approached me, but they saw no interest in me, or so I guessed, and I stepped out of the way to let them look out at the stadium. I blinked as I looked out as well. Silent, ignorant, and… well, something else that was hard to determine as of this moment; this individual must've took care of serious matters where they come from. Huh, whoever this person was, they definitely perked my interest a little. However, I had no idea what they would talk about, and I just looked to the side.

"I've never seen you around here before…" They finally said, and the voice sounded feminine, but had a certain deepness behind it that still left me undetermined, and also because of the helmet making it sound a little restrained. They never gazed at me, even as they continued, "Must be one of the newcomers… But only a handful of those who win their respective tournaments will become well recognized by the veterans…" I heard them explain, and I nodded a little with a light, interest-filled hum of sorts.

"The powers you possess… they're unlike most I've seen, and I've seen many for my stay in this franchise…" I heard them continue, still keeping their gaze out on the fight before us, their left hand resting on their hip, while the cannon aimed at the ground. I wondered just how they knew about my power, but then I guessed perhaps the suit had a special scanner in the visor to detect the energy levels in my body or something. "If I was in the mood, I'd challenge you to see these powers first hand, but it's against the codes of veterans to become involved or learn of these newcomers' abilities before they're recognized." I heard them continue, and I knew immediately this person had to be a veteran, and no doubt why they behaved like they did.

"I can hold you to your offer if you prefer, if… I do become recognized, that is." I said, and saw them look at me, and then back out.

"You sound like you have doubts within you that you can't… At that rate, you'll never become a veteran yourself. I've known princesses that doubted their own abilities at first, and it wasn't until I became involved that they turned out to be like us… But you're a man; you should be more confident about yourself and focus on victory. You do that, you could most certainly be like the others…" I heard, and I couldn't help but wince a little; ouch. "Well, it doesn't matter anyways… There are others with varying powers themselves, so it may be hard to say for certain." They finished, before they turned and looked around the room.

"I should've figured… the meeting isn't until later today… But… We're not alone in this room; my scanners picked up another life form coming from this room, and it's still here…" I heard them explain, their left hand lightly tapping the side of their helmet like it was acting up or something. "Hmmm… Nothing seems to be out of place really… The box there is the only real difference, but…" They explained, but were still looking around. I, however, approached the box casually, and crouched down beside it. I held my breathing for just a moment, for a clearer sense of hearing, but… Not a difference.

I then did the only logical thing on my mind, and lifted the cardboard box up and out of the way, exposing… nothing. What kind of idiot would leave an empty cardboard box lying in a corner like this? But more importantly, why did I feel that I was duped into thinking someone would be hiding in such an obvious place? My eyes narrowed as a sort of appalled expression appeared on my face, as I tossed the box aside, and shook my head.

Ventilation system… Potential, but it didn't look like it'd support any heavy weights, at least anything an average-weighted, middle-aged man would provide. But other than that, I was at a loss where this individual picked up by the armored character could be.

"Might be a minor glitch, or it needs an update on who to register… Regardless, my time here is no longer necessary…" I heard them say, and watched as they walked to the door, but they stopped as they looked back.

"Upon initially seeing me, which gender did you think I was; male or female…?" I heard them ask, and I was surprised by this question; jeez, a fifty-fifty chance of getting this right, but they were asking my opinion really. There couldn't be any harm here.

"Quite honestly… I wasn't sure, but if you want my opinion… I would think you're female…?" I spoke, half-asked, and surely, it made me sound like an idiot; I never had troubles talking like this before. However, I watched as they nodded, and reached up to remove the helmet, and watched as the figure looked at me, their face now exposed. By how long their blonde hair was, and by through the eyes, I could see a minor sense of feminine quality to them.

"So you aren't like those other sexist individuals I came across… But why did you make that choice?" I heard her say, and I knew the voice was female now; who would've thought she would have been a female at first glance. As for her question, I thought about it.

"Well, I honestly don't know… I guess a typical answer would be that "women can be just as capable as men if their mind is set to it…" However, I have two reasons why I thought this, all on personal experience… One, there is an individual who considers themselves as my rival, and she happens to be female, and second… My former partner is female as well…" I spoke, though it sounded like I was in a bit of pain when I said, "former partner", but without her now, how can I still call her my full partner?

"I see… I think you miss her, your partner… Normally, I'd say to just move on and go through life alone, forget about her. But, isolating oneself away from those they're to be with, is not the best answer. Make amends in situations you find most fitting, and it's not too late to fix bonds that are left severed. You do that, and you will be working alongside her once again, or however you worked with her in your world." I heard the armored woman explain, fixing her hair into position so her helmet would be put back on without any problems.

But, before I realized we never introduced each other, she was gone. Business before introduction; she's definitely a piece of work, I'll admit that.

"Another life form in this room, hmmm? Avery, if that's you, then just know that I'm sorry… Next time we see each other, I would like us to start again where we left of…" I spoke, almost certain that it could be Avery; she seems to be spying on me and watching all of my actions one way or another. I proceeded to leave the room then, and closed the door behind me and walked away…

* * *

><p>~POV Change~<p>

Huh? Who was this "Avery" person that kid was talking about? Whoever they are, it would seem there is some kind of trouble happening between the two of them. I opened up the cupboard doors and crawled out, and I looked around. Perfectly empty; good. I turned a dial on my headset, and tapped a few buttons, trying to call on the person who can give me the info I need to figure out these individuals.

*BEEP BEEP*

That was when I pressed the "Select" button on the headset, and I knew I patched in to his network.

"Otacon, can you give me any information about a kid with black hair with red streaks…?" I asked the man on the other end, my voice deep and with an accent to it.

"Just one moment Snake, I can't be rushed into these things, you know? I have saved information about this type of hairstyle, but I need more specifics… How old is he?" I heard the whacked-out scientist ask on the other end, and I simply rolled my eyes.

"I don't know, probably eighteen or something…" I said, half-annoyed; the other part was also confused; Otacon had information of _**every one**_ of the individuals here, from the veterans to the newcomers, from a girl named Shana to a demon named Laharl; the swordsman named Cloud to that summoner, Yuna, even in her gunslinger outfit, and even two individuals calling themselves, "GetBackers", Ginji and Ban.

"Well… I searched all my files, Snake, and only one match comes up to your description. But this kid was said to have disappeared from his world for seven months… Like, not believed he was dead, more like… Not a single trace of him remained except his belongings." Otacon explained, but he was not giving me a name.

"Do you at least have a name? Because I also need information about a character named, "Avery", possibly from the same world he came from…" I explained, and I know this wasn't the best time to be out in the open right here doing this thing. I walked over to the tossed cardboard box; it was a good thing I wasn't there or that kid would've seen me. I crouched down in the same corner had placed the box over me.

"That's the problem Snake… There was no given name to this kid, or rather, it was lost when he was found in the wreckage of his home when he was just a few months old. What I do get for a name is, "Dark Fire"… As for Avery, she comes from Japan, and is cousin to an individual named, "Tsubaki". She is a special character called, "a Weapon", and her weapon form is biased on who wields her. Dark Fire just so happens to be her Meister after her previous Meister, Zho, died due to a witch's influence. So Dark is just like Maka with Soul Eater for a weapon… Avery's special weapon form with him was twin katanas held together by a chain, at least before he quickly progressed her to her Death Scythe form." Otacon explained, so I got the idea that they came from the same world as those two.

"So their home is basically in "Death City", if what you're saying is correct. But, do you have any information between the two at all? Was there any other "accidents" that happened with them?" I asked him, my voice silent in case anyone approached.

"Well, turns out another character and Dark's opposite, "Light Water" was a Weapon Meister as well, but Dark's parents supposedly killed her parents, more specifically her mother who was a witch, so she grew a hatred for them and killed them, and any other family that was tied to Dark. However, Dark was able to surpass her on their last known encounter, but it led to the death of Avery's and Tsubaki's other cousin. Oddly, Avery didn't hold a grudge towards Dark, even when he was the one that killed the young man. She has been waiting for Dark since he had disappeared with Light. Everything else after and now is a blank of Dark's and Light's whereabouts, I would think that Dark may have succeeded in killing her, but you can never be sure, just like how some villains keep coming back even after they're defeated or killed." Otacon explained the story to me, and if you asked me, it sounded like a tragedy of sorts, which I had no particular interest in.

"Hmmm, so basically, Light may be lurking around Brawl Central is what you're saying, Otacon? But… You still didn't answer my question exactly about them…" I explained, my eyes narrowed as my left hand was rubbing my chin.

"I don't see much for a conflict between the two before Dark's disappearance… All is known is that the two were really close, and that Dark did a favor for Avery. But everything else is blank, even what that favor was; I need to do more research… Light could be here, but not a lot is known about her, despite her information being in my files. All is known is that she's quite sadistic and enjoys fighting, all because she was infected with Black Blood… Speaking of which, for the duration Dark was with Avery, he was infected a little by this "Black Blood" as well, which, by normal standards, should drive any normal human or Meister to madness, even in the smallest doses. But Dark, oddly, wasn't affected by the madness. Other than that, that is all I can provide for now, Snake." Otacon explained, before the connection was turned off, and I had to think about this.

"Hmmm… Perhaps this "Dark Fire" kid was apologizing for being gone for so long… And with Samus's input, he thought that I was her… I think maybe Avery's doing the same things I am… So she's… a Japanese Spy? But her cousin, Tsubaki, sound more like a ninja name… So much I don't know… I'll contact Otacon about this later, but for now…" I spoke, and just remained there in the box for quite some time. I wondered just how I became so fascinated by the cardboard boxes; perhaps those terrorists were just so mindless to even think that cardboard would even be an option, or that they would be duped by such a simple hiding method. Whatever…


End file.
